S.Korea court to rule on probe of president-elect

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's constitutional court is set to rule on Thursday whether a special counsel can go ahead with a probe into fraud allegations against President-elect Lee Myung-bak.

The outgoing government in late December approved the special counsel, making Lee the first South Korean president-elect to face a criminal investigation. Conservative Lee won a landslide victory in the December 19 presidential election with pledges to revive the economy.

"We'll deliver the ruling at 2 p.m. (0500 GMT)," said a spokesman at the constitutional court.

Lee's relatives had requested the court to review the planned probe, saying some of the investigation process was unconstitutional.

If the court agrees, the probe into allegations that Lee was linked to an investment firm suspected of defrauding investors of millions of dollars may have to be dropped.

Prosecutors have previously cleared Lee of any criminal involvement. Lee denied any wrongdoing or links to the firm,

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Even if the special counsel is approved, any probe is unlikely to be completed before Lee's inauguration on February 25 when he will become immune from prosecution.

(Reporting by Rhee So-eui, editing by Jonathan Thatcher and Sanjeev Miglani)