FORMER UN CHIEF RETURNS TO SOUTH KOREA TO RUN AS PRESIDENT|潘基文返韓布局總統大選 澄清收賄傳聞

And in our next story, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon returned to South Korea on January 12 to run for the country's top job. Upon landing, he held a press conference immediately to clarify a few bribery accusations made against him and denied any involvement. However, latest polls showed Ban trailing his opponent, former head of the Minjoo Party, Moon Jae-in. Here's our report. According to South Korean pollster Realmeter's latest poll, Moon Jae-in, former head of the Minjoo Party scored a rating of 26.8%, while Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon scored a 21.5% in the poll. The poll also showed that support for the Minjoo Party has a significant lead over the ruling Saenuri party. Last week, Moon and Ban had similar ratings with Ban still holding a lead of 0.5% over Moon. After the media reported that Ban allegedly received a bribe of $230,000 when he served as the foreign minister 10 years ago, the tide started to turn against him. What's worse is that Ban's younger brother and nephew were charged by US prosecutors over an alleged attempt to bribe a Middle Eastern official through a US middleman regarding the sale of a building complex in Vietnam. Ban's spokesperson stressed that Ban had no knowledge of this and might take legal action if necessary. ==LEE DO-WOON Ban Ki-moon's Spokesperson== I think that when the (former) Secretary-General learned that they were prosecuted, he must've been very surprised because he was unaware of this. Upon his arrival at the Incheon International Airport on January 12, Ban held a press conference to clarify these rumors. In the aftermath of President Park's scandal, South Koreans are appalled by cronyism and political corruption. If Ban could not clear the air and dispel the rumors, his campaign might be as smooth as he expected. TRANSLATED BY：LUKE CHIANG 南韓民調機構Realmeter 12號公布最新民調結果，民主黨前黨魁文在寅在下屆總統選舉民調中以26.8%的支持率，擊敗潘基文的21.5%，重登榜首，而民主黨的支持率也達到執政的新世界黨的兩倍多。 文在寅與潘基文上個禮拜支持率不相上下，潘基文只以0.5%些微領先，但週刊媒體爆出十年前，還在當外交通商部長的潘基文，曾收受製鞋業者朴淵次23萬美元的賄賂傳聞發酵後，局勢逆轉。 雪上加霜的是，美國聯邦檢察官對潘基文的弟弟潘基相，與潘基相之子潘周賢提起公訴，原因是兩人透過美國中間人向中東官員行賄，讓對方動用國家主權財富基金，購買越南河內的商業住宅大樓。潘基文的發言人強調，潘基文對此一無所知，也對收賄案保留法律追訴權。 ==潘基文發言人 李度運== 我想(前)秘書長可能從媒體報導 得知這些(弟侄遭)起訴消息 他一定深感驚訝 因為他完全不知道這些情況 潘基文12號下午飛抵首爾仁川機場，面對媒體首先澄清收賄疑雲子虛烏有。南韓人目前正因朴槿惠親信干政斂財醜聞，對特權與官商勾結深惡痛絕，潘基文若無法撇清金權疑雲，選情恐怕將亮起紅燈。 記者 施慧中 報導