SEOUL, April 6 (UPI) -- A former South Korean National Assembly speaker is being questioned in connection with a wide-ranging political graft investigation, officials said.
Park Kwan-yong, who served as National Assembly speaker from 2002 to 2004, was undergoing questioning from the country's Supreme Prosecutors' Office regarding allegations that he took about $76,000 in illegal political funds from Park Yeon-cha, the chairman of a shoemaking company, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported Monday.
The businessman, who was arrested in December on tax evasion charges, is at the center of bribery scandal surrounding associates of former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun. Prosecutors allege Park Yeon-cha gave millions of dollars to such political heavyweights as the former speaker, Roh's older brother and Rep. Lee Kwang-jae, a top confidant to the former president, Yonhap said.
The news agency said a son-in-law of Gun-pyeong has also been questioned about taking illegal funds worth $5 million from the businessman, although investigators allege the money was actually meant for Roh.
