Lee sues to evict tenant for operating sex business

SEOUL, Nov. 12 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak filed a lawsuit to evict the
owner of a karaoke club from his building in southern Seoul, following
controversial reports that the tenant operated a sex business there, a court
document showed Wednesday.
Allegations erupted before Lee's election that female waitresses sold sex in the
karaoke located in the basement of the Yeongil Building owned by Lee in Seoul's
affluent southern district. Critics questioned Lee's ethics for taking rent from
the operator of the alleged sex business.
Aides to Lee said the karaoke owner, identified only by his surname Lee, violated
his contract that limits the use of the basement to restaurant businesses only
and that he rejected repeated requests from the landlord to vacate the premise.
"I asked him to vacate and did not file a suit because Mr. Lee promised that he
would change the business," the president said in a document submitted to the
Seoul Central District Court. "But even since then, there have been reports that
his karaoke employed waitresses, which is a violation of the contract and the
promise he made."
Lee and the tenant signed the one-year contract in March last year, on condition
that the basement would not be used for any purpose beyond what was stated in the
contract and should not involve illegal activities, the document said.
The president received 7.53 million won (US$5,523) in monthly rent and management
charges, while the contract is automatically extended every year if there are no
complaints from either side. The president notified his tenant that he would
terminate the contract in August this year, according to the document.
Lee, a former Hyundai CEO and Seoul mayor, is one of the wealthiest politicians
in the country, with reported assets valued at 35.47 billion won. His fortune has
often been linked to questions of ethics in relation to the process by which he
amassed it.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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