A minor opposition party and civic groups demanded Wednesday that former President Lee Myung-bak attend a parliamentary hearing on his "energy diplomacy," arguing that he lied about its outcome in his memoir.
  

Lee has come under public criticism for spending tens of billions of dollars on various natural resources development projects overseas with few results while in office from 2008 to 2013.
  

In his memoir released on Monday, Lee claimed that the nation is expected to collect about 114.8 percent of the total amount invested in the projects, far higher than the 12.1 percent under his liberal predecessor, late President Roh Moo-hyun.
  

The claim comes as a parliamentary probe is under way to find the truth in Lee's energy diplomacy.
  

"His claim that his energy diplomacy was successful is nothing but a lie," the Justice Party and a task force of various civic groups for unveiling the truth on the issue, said during a news conference in front of his home in southern Seoul.
  

"In short, the 114.8 percent rate claimed in the memoir by the former president is an inflated figure," they said. "His government's enormous investment (into the projects) turned out to be a failure and he needs to explain this," they said.
  

Early this month, the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy agreed on the details of a parliamentary probe that formally began on Dec. 29 for a 100-day run and can be extended by up to 25 days.
  

A sticky issue yet to be resolved, however, is who will be called in to testify during the hearings. (Yonhap)