Top prosecutor tenders resignation after ex-president`s suicide

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SEOUL, June 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's prosecutor general offered to resign
Wednesday for the second time, holding himself responsible for an intensive
investigation into bribery allegations surrounding former President Roh Moo-hyun
who took his own life last month.
Roh died May 23 at the age of 62, leaping from a mountainside precipice above his
rural hometown amid a probe that tarnished his legacy as an anti-corruption
fighter. He served as the country's leader from 2003 to 2008.
Expressing "personal agony" and offering his "apology to the public," Prosecutor
General Lim Chae-jin tendered resignation, the Justice Ministry said.
Lim was appointed the country's top prosecutor by Roh in 2007 and retained by the
incumbent Lee Myung-bak administration. He had offered to step down on the day of
Roh's death, but Justice Minister Kim Kyung-han rejected the move, citing the
need to "maintain order." Kim has yet to decide whether to accept Wednesday's
resignation.
"I apologize for causing public grief as the chief prosecutor in control of the
recent probe," Lim said. "I did my best to conduct a fair probe free of political
controversy ... but I fell short."
"I feel it is no longer appropriate for me to command the prosecution when I am
overcome by agony and confusion," he said.
The prosecution investigation was dealt another blow Tuesday when the court
rejected an arrest warrant for a businessman, a confidant and supporter of
President Lee, implicated in the bribery scandal.
hayney@yna.co.kr
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