The PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games has emerged as a variable in the prosecutors ' questioning of former President Lee Myung - bak . Due to the whistle - blowing statements by the president ' s former private secretary Kim Hee - joong , the prosecutors ' questioning of the former president seems just seconds away . However , due to external variables such as the PyeongChang Olympics , a state event , experts expect the Prosecution Service to carefully consider when to summon the former president . Given that the Prosecution Service has worked to promptly proceed with the investigation concerning the former president , many people expect the prosecutors to question Lee soon . In particular , many expect the questioning to take place before the PyeongChang Olympic Games . It would be a burden on the Prosecution Service to have the former president stand before photojournalists at the Prosecutors ' Office with a major event taking place before the eyes of the world . Therefore experts believe it would be better for the prosecutors to question Lee before the Olympics begins . Besides , former President Lee was the president who brought the Olympic Games to PyeongChang . The opening ceremony will be on February 9 , but since the government is preparing a number of events to symbolize the atmosphere of reconciliation between North and South Korea before the ceremony , the prosecutors would feel less pressure if they could question former President Lee well before that . Also , when we consider the end of the arrest period for former secretaries Kim Baek - jun and Kim Jin - mo ( maximum 20 days ) , early February is expected to be a critical time . However , how quickly and sufficiently the prosecutors will be able to secure the evidence to support the circumstantial evidence of former President Lee ' s involvement in the case in the upcoming investigation will be key . In other words , the prosecutors will have to discover crucial evidence to call the former president in for questioning before the PyeongChang Olympics . If they miss this time slot , the questioning of Lee is likely to be postponed till March , after the Olympics . Given the privileges of the former president , it is better for the prosecutors to minimize the number of personal questionings . Thus the prosecutors may determine the time for the questioning after reaching some conclusion in the investigation of various allegations . Cheong Wa Dae plans to send out an invitation to the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Olympics to former President Lee regardless of the prosecutors ' questioning . A senior Cheong Wa Dae official said , " We think it is right to courteously honor the people and invite them regardless of the current situation . Although we do have some sort of situation at present , it is a separate issue from whether or not we should send out an invitation to a former president , who is on the invitation list . " " Some sort of situation " refers to the imminent prosecutors ' questioning of former President Lee . ▶ 경향신문 SNS [ 트위터 ] [ 페이스북 ] ▶ [ 인기 무료 만화 보 기 ] © 경향신문 ( www . khan . co . kr ) , 무단 전재 및 재 배포 금지