AIRLINK 75.18 Increased By ▲ 0.33 (0.44%)
BOP 5.01 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (0.6%)
CNERGY 4.51 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (0.45%)
DFML 41.86 Increased By ▲ 1.86 (4.65%)
DGKC 86.75 Increased By ▲ 0.40 (0.46%)
FCCL 21.50 Increased By ▲ 0.14 (0.66%)
FFBL 33.80 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.15%)
FFL 9.74 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (0.21%)
GGL 10.51 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.57%)
HBL 114.50 Increased By ▲ 1.76 (1.56%)
HUBC 139.52 Increased By ▲ 2.08 (1.51%)
HUMNL 11.78 Increased By ▲ 0.36 (3.15%)
KEL 5.22 Decreased By ▼ -0.06 (-1.14%)
KOSM 4.67 Increased By ▲ 0.04 (0.86%)
MLCF 37.99 Increased By ▲ 0.19 (0.5%)
OGDC 139.26 Decreased By ▼ -0.24 (-0.17%)
PAEL 26.10 Increased By ▲ 0.49 (1.91%)
PIAA 22.20 Increased By ▲ 1.52 (7.35%)
PIBTL 6.85 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.74%)
PPL 123.67 Increased By ▲ 1.47 (1.2%)
PRL 26.96 Increased By ▲ 0.38 (1.43%)
PTC 14.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.36%)
SEARL 59.50 Increased By ▲ 0.52 (0.88%)
SNGP 68.72 Decreased By ▼ -0.23 (-0.33%)
SSGC 10.47 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (1.65%)
TELE 8.42 Increased By ▲ 0.04 (0.48%)
TPLP 11.25 Increased By ▲ 0.19 (1.72%)
TRG 64.18 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.02%)
UNITY 26.58 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (0.11%)
WTL 1.46 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.69%)
BR100 7,947 Increased By 109.8 (1.4%)
BR30 25,702 Increased By 250 (0.98%)
KSE100 76,060 Increased By 945.7 (1.26%)
KSE30 24,464 Increased By 350.3 (1.45%)

imageSEOUL: A high-profile South Korean politician and presidential hopeful resigned Tuesday as the head of his new opposition party that has been rocked by a bribery scandal.

Ahn Cheol-Soo, a former IT software tycoon, stepped down as co-leader of the People's Party, amid allegations that its members received tens of thousand of dollars in kickbacks from two local companies before legislative elections in April.

"All political responsibility for this case rests with me. I put down the co-chairmanship to take all the responsiblity," Ahn told journalists.

Ahn, who is very popular with younger voters, rose to political prominence as a centrist independent candidate in the 2012 presidential election

He dropped out of the race to support the main opposition candidate Moon Jae-In, who eventually lost to the conservative Park Geun-Hye.

Ahn and Moon are both expected to run again in the next presidential poll in December 2017.

The National Election Commission claims that two lawmakers and a senior official from Ahn's People's Party -- which was only set up in January -- were implicated in receiving some $200,000 in kickbacks from local firms.

The official was arrested on charges of violating the law controlling political funds.

Prosecution authorities have also grilled the two lawmakers but stopped short of pressing charges.

Ahn's party, which has promised a "new politics," won 38 seats in April's parliamentary election.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2016

Comments

Comments are closed.