KUALA LUMPUR — A married Malaysian minister has admitted he is the man in a sex video circulated last week, reports said Tuesday, embarrassing Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s conservative government.

Health Minister Chua Soi Lek said he had apologized to Abdullah for his actions but would not step down over the incident, leaving his fate to the prime minister, the state news agency Bernama said.

“I’m the man in the sex tape,” Chua was quoted by Bernama as saying.

Chua, who is married with three children, described the woman in the video as a personal friend but gave no further details about her, the agency said.

The mystery surrounding the videos has been splashed on the front pages of Malaysian newspapers since the DVD was circulated in southern Johor state last week.

The video is believed to be taken from closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage recorded in a hotel suite but the location and date are unknown, the Star newspaper reported.

Chua is the vice-president of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), a key component of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO)-led government coalition.

“At this juncture, we want to see what Abdullah does in this situation,” opposition Democratic Action Party leader Lim Guan Eng told Agence France-Presse.

“We need to examine whether Chua’s role in this sex scandal has in any way compromised his performance as a cabinet minister,” he added.

Lim said several members of coalition parties had been involved in similar scandals since Abdullah came to power in 2003 — but never one so high-ranking.

“Most have been only parliamentary members and senators who were not directly involved in the government. Chua is the most senior politician to be involved in such a scandal,” he said.