The General Election Is Over... Will the Prosecution Resume Delayed Investigations Related to the Administration?

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Attention is focused on the direction of various ongoing investigations related to the administration by the prosecution following the ruling party's landslide victory in the general election.

According to the legal community on the 16th, the prosecution will first launch full-scale investigations into complaints and accusations received during the election period, as well as cases referred by the Election Commission. Even if elected in this general election, if a candidate is convicted of violating the Public Official Election Act and sentenced to a fine of 1 million won or more, the election will be invalidated.

The prosecution is also expected to resume investigations into ruling party figures that had been postponed until after the general election.

The most attention-grabbing case is the investigation into the Blue House's alleged 'election interference and directive investigations.'

After the general election, the prosecution had planned to further investigate and take judicial action regarding the involvement of former Presidential Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok and Blue House Civil Affairs Secretary Lee Kwang-cheol, among other Blue House aides.

However, the situation has become somewhat complicated as many related ruling party figures were elected as members of the National Assembly. Hwang Un-ha, former Ulsan Metropolitan Police Agency chief, Han Byung-do, former Blue House Senior Secretary for Political Affairs, and Kim Ki-hyun, former mayor of Ulsan, were each elected in their respective constituencies, and candidate Choi Kang-wook also entered the National Assembly as a proportional representative, making the investigation challenging.

If the prosecution attempts to summon and investigate them further, they may face difficulties as these members of the National Assembly could invoke parliamentary immunity and refuse to cooperate. Investigating or indicting former Chief of Staff Im and Secretary Lee may also face fierce opposition and pressure from the ruling party.

However, the situation could change depending on the verdicts in trials already underway.

Former Chief Hwang and former Secretary Han are scheduled to have their first trial on the 23rd on charges related to election interference in the Ulsan mayoral race. If they are convicted of violating the Public Official Election Act and sentenced to a fine of 1 million won or more in this trial, they will lose their assembly seats.

Former Blue House Secretary Choi will also stand trial starting on the 21st under Judge Jeong Jong-geon of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 9. Choi was indicted on charges of issuing a false internship certificate to the son of former Minister Cho.

The prosecution has secured important materials for investigating the election interference and directive investigation allegations during the election period, and once the investigation resumes, it is expected to proceed swiftly.

On the 30th of last month, the prosecution unlocked the mobile phone of A, a prosecution investigator from the Blue House Civil Affairs Secretary’s office who died while under investigation for these allegations.

Investigator A worked as an administrative officer under former Blue House Civil Affairs Secretary Baek Won-woo and was identified as a key witness related to the complaint against former Ulsan Metropolitan Police Agency chief Hwang Un-ha. The prosecution is searching for crucial clues to clarify the allegations on his mobile phone.

In addition, the prosecution must also uncover allegations of obstruction in the investigation of the Sewol ferry disaster during the Park Geun-hye administration. The special investigation team for the Sewol ferry disaster conducted a search and seizure at the Presidential Archives from the 7th to the 14th, securing related materials, and on the morning of the same day, summoned former Vice Chairman Cho Dae-hwan of the Sewol ferry disaster special investigation committee as a suspect for questioning.

Furthermore, the prosecution aims to complete the investigation into the merger between Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T and the related group management succession allegations by next month. The Economic Crime Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office has repeatedly summoned current and former top Samsung executives for investigations related to management succession.

The investigations into Lime Asset Management and Shinil Group cases, conducted by the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office, are also expected to proceed at a faster pace. Both cases have consistently raised suspicions of involvement by politicians.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.