S. Korean lawmaker leaves ruling party over hacking incident

SEOUL, Jan. 2 (Yonhap) -- A ruling party lawmaker said Monday he decided to leave the Grand National Party (GNP) over a cyber attack on the national election watchdog involving one of his aides, though he continued to deny any involvement in the widening scandal. The move came after the party's emergency council last week asked Rep. Choi Ku-sik to leave the party voluntarily after his 28-year-old aide was found to have masterminded a cyber attack of the Web site of the National Election Commission (NEC) in October's local by-elections. Prosecutors have arrested and indicted Choi's aide and four others on charges of attacking the NEC's Web site on the day of voting, but Choi has denied any responsibility. "I am sorry for causing concern to people. Regardless of the results (of the investigation), I feel moral responsibility for not being able to control my employees," Choi said during a briefing. "I think the time has come for me to leave (the party) because I did all I could do during prosecution's investigation." The conservative party has been grappling with low approval ratings after it was hit by a series of local election defeats and the hacking scandal, while the opposition lawmakers have demanded the parliament launch a separate body to investigate the case. In a bid to dispel allegations, the GNP said it will form a civilian committee to verify that the ongoing prosecution investigation into the hacking scandal is fair and transparent and leaves no suspicions unresolved.