‘Park Won-soon Accusation Fact’ Prosecutors Knew Before Police... "No Report Made to Higher Authorities"

New Variable Emerges in Investigation of 'Leak of Being Sued' Case

Kim Jae-ryeon, Chief Attorney at Law Firm On-Sesang (second from left), is speaking at the "Second Press Conference on the Sexual Violence Case by the Seoul Mayor" held at a press conference room in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 22nd. From left, Gomi-kyung, Executive Director of Korea Women's Hotline; Attorney Kim; Song Ran-hee, Secretary General of Korea Women's Hotline; Kim Hye-jung, Deputy Director of Korea Sexual Violence Counseling Center; and Lee Mi-kyung, Director of Korea Sexual Violence Counseling Center. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] After it was revealed that the victim who accused the late former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon of sexual harassment had expressed their intention to file a complaint with the prosecution before submitting the complaint to the police and had requested a preliminary meeting with the head prosecutor of the relevant department, the prosecution stated, “There has been no disclosure of the fact or content of the phone call with lawyer Kim or any information to the outside,” asserting that the leak of the accusation against former Mayor Park is unrelated.

Amid investigations into the leak of the accusation against former Mayor Park, with related personnel from the Blue House, police, and Seoul City being criminally charged and under investigation, the confirmation that the prosecution was aware of the accusation before Park’s death has introduced new variables into the investigation of the leak.

On the 22nd, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office issued a statement titled “Regarding the remarks at today’s second press conference,” stating, “On the late afternoon of the 7th, lawyer Kim requested a preliminary meeting before filing the complaint by calling the office phone of the head of the Women and Children Crime Investigation Division at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.” The statement added, “The head of the division judged that this was not in accordance with procedure and said it was somewhat inappropriate, but said they would review it and get back to the lawyer. Later that day, near the end of the workday, the head called the lawyer back to explain that a preliminary meeting was difficult due to scheduling and procedural reasons, and if deemed necessary, the complaint should be filed according to procedure.”

It continued, “There were no further inquiries or complaint submissions afterward, and the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office first learned of the complaint being filed with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency around 4:30 p.m. on the 9th through a phone report from the supervising investigator.”

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office drew a clear line, stating, “There has been no reporting or disclosure to higher authorities or external parties regarding the phone call with lawyer Kim, the content of the call, or the fact that the complaint was filed with the police.”

Kim Jae-ryeon, the legal representative of the victim of the late former Mayor Park, revealed at a second press conference held at an undisclosed location in Seoul that on the 7th, a day before filing the complaint with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, she had requested a meeting with the head of the Women and Children Crime Investigation Division at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office to disclose the sexual harassment by former Mayor Park.

Lawyer Kim stated, “I requested a meeting with the head of the Women and Children Crime Investigation Division at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, but was only told in principle that a meeting before filing the complaint was difficult. I requested the meeting because the victim’s testimony was necessary for evidence collection, and when asked to confirm who the accused was to consider the meeting, I disclosed the accused (former Mayor Park).” She added that the victim was scheduled to meet the head prosecutor at 3 p.m. on the 8th, but the meeting was canceled by the head prosecutor’s side on the evening of the 7th due to scheduling reasons.

Lawyer Kim explained, “(With the meeting canceled) I thought it would not be appropriate to file the complaint with the Central District Prosecutors’ Office, so I contacted the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. They responded that direct investigation is possible for cases involving women, children, intellectually disabled persons, and high-ranking officials, so I planned to file the complaint as a case involving a high-ranking official and requested that the investigation proceed immediately.”

On the same day, it was revealed that Yu Hyun-jung, head of the Women and Children Crime Investigation Division at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, had arranged a meeting with the victim after hearing from the victim’s lawyer about the intention to accuse former Mayor Park but suddenly canceled the meeting, prompting various speculations about the background.

Given that Yu, who learned of the sexual harassment accusation against a high-profile figure like the Seoul Mayor, likely reported to her superiors, the deputy chief prosecutor and chief prosecutor, suspicions have arisen that Yu’s cancellation of the meeting with the victim and guidance to file the complaint according to procedure were decisions made by the leadership of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.

In particular, questions have been raised about why the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, despite being aware that a sexual crime complaint against former Mayor Park would be filed, did not report this to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office.

A representative of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said they could not confirm whether Yu reported to her superiors within the Central District Prosecutors’ Office.

The prosecution’s position is that they first learned of the complaint being filed through a phone report from the supervising investigator to the police officer in charge around 4:30 p.m. on the 9th, the day after the complaint was submitted to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

Regarding this, the police stated that they contacted the prosecution immediately after completing the victim’s investigation on the 9th to apply for a search warrant for Seoul City Hall and other locations.

The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office assigned five criminal complaints related to the leak of the accusation against former Mayor Park and allegations of aiding sexual harassment to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, which in turn assigned the cases to the Criminal Division 2 (Chief Prosecutor Lee Chang-soo) on the 17th.

However, as of the sixth day since assignment, the office has not decided whether to conduct a direct investigation or to hand the case over to the police for investigation cooperation.

A representative of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said regarding the investigation subject and method, “We are in consultation with the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office.”

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