Justice Minister Park Beom-kye said he believes swift action is necessary to address suspicions that presidential contender and Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung handed out favors to close associates in a public property development project several years ago.

Park made the remark on his way to his office in Gwacheon on Thursday, saying Lee has said he is willing to actively cooperate and wants to shed light on these allegations.  

On the opposition camp’s calls for an independent counsel, Park simply said the police are looking into the flow of funds and that the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office has received a complaint from Lee’s campaign team against the floor leader of the main opposition People Power Party(PPP). 

Park’s remarks come after Lee’s team filed a complaint against PPP floor leader Kim Gi-hyeon last Sunday, saying Kim made false claims about the development project in order to force Lee out of the presidential race.

Lee undertook the development project in question in 2014-2015 in Daejang-dong after he was re-elected mayor of Seongnam City in Gyeonggi Province.  

The main opposition party has raised allegations that Lee gave preferential treatment to the  selected companies, allowing them to reap considerable profit by taking advantage of their ties to the then-mayor in the over one-trillion-won project.