The rival political parties had sharply different reactions to the return of former Ssangbangwool Group chairman Kim Seong-tae from Thailand, who fled South Korea after coming under investigation for corruption allegedly involving main opposition Democratic Party(DP) leader Lee Jae-myung.

The ruling People Power Party(PPP) on Tuesday accused the DP of protecting someone it called a gangster-turned-businessman, slamming the opposition for giving up on reason in defense of its leader.

The ruling party said a number of occurrences surrounding the DP chief that cannot exist under a normal state system had transpired as it referred to the ex-Ssangbangwool chief paying Lee's legal fees by proxy.

The DP, on the other hand, denied its leader's connection to the allegations, accusing the prosecution of attempting to demonize the party chief through the media.

The opposition's accusation follows the prosecutions’ summons for Lee on Monday over his alleged role in the Daejang-dong land development scandal, having questioned him last week regarding third-party bribery allegations linked to a municipal football club.