South Korean President Lee Myung-bak bows to make an apology to the nation at the presidential Blue House in Seoul July 24, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

SEOUL - South Korean President Lee Myung-bak offered a public apology Tuesday for a series of corruption scandals implicating his brother and former aides, an embarrassment for the administration he once called "morally perfect."

"It is all my fault," the somber-faced Lee said in an official statement. "I will readily accept any criticism."

The apology came as his elder brother Lee Sang-deuk and a handful of his former aides are facing an array of corruption charges. Some of them have been already jailed, while the investigations are still underway.