Former presidential candidate apologizes but denies role in scandal

By 임장원 Posted : July 12, 2017, 17:45 Updated : July 13, 2017, 07:47

[Photo by Namgung Jin-ung = timeid@ajunews.com]


Ahn Cheol-soo, a former opposition presidential candidate, effectively denied his role in a pre-election smear campaign against President Moon Jae-in but vowed to put himself into a period of self-discipline to take moral responsibility.

Ahn apologized and offered to take political and moral responsibility for the arrest of two former campaigners by state prosecutors on charges of providing his party with groundless and libelous information about the president's son.

"I should take all political and moral responsibility," the former software mogul said, adding the scandal has also shocked him. "I will put myself into a period of deep self-discipline and self-reflection," he said, describing the scandal as "unpardonable".

Before Ahn stood third in a presidential vote on May 9, his minor opposition People's Party alleged that Moon's son had used his father's political influence to earn a job at the state-run Korea Employment Information Service in 2006.

Prosecutors arrested one of Ahn's former campaigners after she confessed to doctoring a tip-off. She said her brother posing as a friend of Moon's son sent an audio file that was later relayed to Lee Jun-seo, then a senior party member, who was also arrested for his role in the scandal.

Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com

 
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