Prosecutors Summon Former Secretary Park Hyung-cheol for 'Election Interference' Allegations from a Week Ago

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] It has been confirmed belatedly that the prosecution investigating the Blue House's involvement in the Ulsan local elections and the allegations of directed investigations recently summoned and questioned Park Hyung-chul, former Anti-Corruption Secretary of the Presidential Office.

The Public Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Tae-eun) announced on the 17th that they summoned and investigated former Secretary Park on the 10th. The 10th was the last working day before the senior officials of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, who were leading the administration investigations, were reassigned due to the Ministry of Justice's high-level personnel reshuffle in the prosecution.

The prosecution is examining the overall process in which the Ulsan Metropolitan Police Agency investigated the corruption of close aides to former Ulsan Mayor Kim Gi-hyeon ahead of the June 2018 local elections. It is known that during the investigation, former Secretary Park testified that he made a phone call to a key official at the Ulsan District Prosecutors' Office, who was directing the police investigation of former Mayor Kim, requesting them to file the warrant that the police had applied for.

Previously, the Blue House explained that "Former Presidential Civil Affairs Secretary Baek Won-woo only transferred the intelligence report related to former Mayor Kim's aides' misconduct to the police through former Secretary Park in the second half of 2017 and did not intervene in the subsequent police investigation."

Regarding this allegation, the prosecution conducted a search and seizure at the National Police Agency headquarters in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 16th. Prosecutors and investigators were sent to the Information and Communications Office to secure materials. The search and seizure were reportedly aimed at obtaining internal documents and computer hard disks related to intelligence on the misconduct surrounding former Ulsan Mayor Kim Gi-hyeon’s associates.

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