President to donate personal assets before end of February: official

SEOUL, Feb. 5 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak will likely donate most of his
personal wealth before he begins his second year in office later this month, a
presidential aide said Thursday.
Lee had pledged during the runup to the presidential election in December 2007
that he will donate all his personal assets except a house for his family.
A former CEO of the construction arm of Hyundai, one of the largest business
conglomerates in South Korea, Lee declared his personal assets to be worth about
35.3 billion won (US$25.5 million) during his presidential campaign.
"It has almost been arranged and I believe we should soon be able to tell you how
it will be implemented," Lee Dong-kwan, a spokesman for the presidential office,
told reporters.
The spokesman said the donation will likely be made before the president starts
the second year of his five-year term on Feb. 25, but noted there will not be a
formal announcement.
"The important issue is that it (the promise) is implemented," spokesman Lee
said, adding where the donation will go is subject to more deliberation.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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