Former President Lee Myung-bak has refuted opposition lawmakers' criticism of his push for energy diplomacy while in office, saying that it's too early to take issue with it.

Last month, the National Assembly launched an investigation into allegations that past administrations spent tens of billions of dollars on various natural resources development projects overseas with few results. 

 
"Energy diplomacy involves long-term projects that take about 10 to 30 years to see their results," Lee said in his memoir, a copy of which was obtained by Yonhap News Agency before its release on Monday.

"I think evaluating and challenging my energy diplomacy with less than two years having passed since I left office is like seeking hot water under cold ice," he wrote.

Opposition lawmakers claim that the Lee government has poured some 40 trillion won (US$36.79 billion) into various overseas natural resources development projects but collected only 5 trillion won, or 13 percent, of the total investment.

"There is a big problem with the opposition's criticism in that it is, in many parts, different from the truth," Lee said in the 800-page memoir titled "President's Time."

"An inflated political offensive would make public officials take their hands away from the global natural resources war and have an apathetic attitude. I'm greatly concerned about of this kind of situation."

Another focus of the ongoing parliamentary probe is whether the development projects involved any corruption or illegalities by Lee's aides.

"We can conduct a thorough investigation and severely punish those involved if any corruption is found in the development projects," he said.

"But it is silly to consider energy diplomacy or overseas natural resources development itself as a sin or to keep the country from doing this by inflating such a problem," he stressed. (Yonhap)