Three former and incumbent Cheong Wa Dae officials sued a businessman for libel after he told reporters that he gave them gift certificates through an ex-vice culture minister.

Kwak Seung-joon, chief of a presidential advisory council; Park Young-joon, former vice minister of knowledge economy; and Lim Jae-hyun, presidential secretary for policy publicity filed the complaints to the Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office Tuesday.

Lee Kuk-chul, chairman of SLS Group which is being investigated by prosecutors over alleged slush funds, said in a press conference last week that he financially sponsored Shin Jae-min for the past nine years. Shin, a journalist-turned-media advisor to President Lee Myung-bak, served as second and first vice minister of culture for two-and-a-half years until August last year.

The SLS Group chairman also said that he gave gift certificates worth tens of millions of won to Shin upon his request that he needed to give them to Kwak and Lim.

Lee Kuk-chul said his company paid for Park’s dinner and entertainment worth nearly 5 million won when the then-vice minister of government policy at the Prime Minister’s Office visited Japan.

The prosecution is planning to summon Lee for a second interrogation next week. 



By Kim So-hyun
(sophie@heraldcorp.com)