South Korea’s prime minister reiterated Tuesday his denial he received illegal campaign funds from a recently-deceased businessman during a parliamentary by-election two years ago, vowing to resign if the accusation was true.

But the tide appears to be turning against Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo as critics increase their attack against him, citing his record of lying about past wrongdoing. Testimonies that Lee was close to the late Sung Woan-jong also intensified suspicion against the prime minister.

Sung, former head of construction firm Keangnam Enterprises, allegedly gave Lee 30 million won ($27,000) in the parliamentary by-election in April 2013, according to an interview with the Kyunghyang Shinmun, a local newspaper, hours before police found him dead last Thursday in an apparent suicide. 

“I went to (Lee’s) campaign office (in the 2013 April by-elections) and handed the money over in person,” Sung was quoted as saying.

On Tuesday, Lee repeatedly denied any illegal ties to Sung at an interpellation session in the National Assembly.

“You all know that hundreds of people stop by our campaign offices during elections,” Lee said. “I do not remember each and every visitor.”

As speculation escalated following the note, as well as phone records showing Lee calling a mutual acquaintance with Sung up to 15 times on the day after Sung was found dead, Lee said, “Sung and I were not as close as many of you think.”

The acquaintance reportedly claimed Sung had expressed disappointment over Lee’s refusal to stop prosecutorial probes on Sung’s company, and that Lee repeatedly asked to know what Sung had said about him.

Prosecutors had accused Sung of swindling government subsidies by overstating his company’s profits. But Sung claimed President Park Geun-hye’s administration was on a witch hunt against his company to shore up declining political support in the days before his death.

Prosecutors declared an end to investigations on Sung after his death. But officials found a note on Sung after he died naming eight officials he had allegedly given kickbacks to, including former presidential aides, and P.M. Lee, among others.

Lee’s comments so far appear to be placing him in a deeper quagmire.

On Monday, Lee said he had suffered from cancer in 2012, preventing him from assisting President Park’s campaign rallies. But past photos showed Lee standing next to or around Park during rallies at Daejeon and Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province.

Lee’s past record of making false statements also seems to be haunting him.

In February during his confirmation hearing opposition lawmakers had accused Lee of intimidating journalists at a private luncheon. Lee claimed he did not remember the incident and continued to deny related accusations until opposition lawmakers publicized a tape recording of him making threats against reporters, saying he could get them fired using his ties to media company executives.

“(The sacked reporters) won’t know what hit them,” Lee said in the recording.

By Jeong Hunny (hj257@heraldcorp.com)