Sung Il-jong "Lime and Optimus Scandals Require Formation of Yoon Seok-yeol Special Investigation Unit"

Seong Il-jong, People Power Party member / Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Yeon-ju] On the 13th, Seong Il-jong, a member of the People Power Party, emphasized that regarding the suspicions of political involvement in the Lime and Optimus fund fraud cases, "Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol should form a special investigation team or a special prosecutor should be appointed."

In an interview with KBS Radio's 'Kim Kyung-rae's Strongest Current Affairs' on the same day, Rep. Seong said, "Yoon Seok-yeol dismantled all the organizations he had established, and now he is reporting on the investigations conducted. Would the public believe that?"

He added, "Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae cut off all the limbs of Yoon's prosecution organization," and raised suspicions that "this is an attempt to weaken Yoon Seok-yeol's power and cover up these massive corruption-related cases."

He continued, "It has already been over a year since the Lime and Optimus cases became problematic. These are huge cases connected to key figures in the administration. Shortly after Minister Choo was appointed, she disbanded the Joint Securities Crime Investigation Unit," and argued, "In the era's trend, financial crimes and intelligent crimes require reinforcement and specialization, but a minister came out who dismantled such excellent and very good organizations."

He further stated, "Financial investigations require expertise. Not just anyone can do it. The Joint Securities Crime Investigation Unit, which can handle such large cases, was dismantled by Minister Choo Mi-ae," adding, "There is a high possibility of misunderstanding. Now that this case is surfacing in court, it seems they are just starting to handle it, which I think is very problematic."

He then urged the prosecution, saying, "To gain more trust from the public, it is right for the Prosecutor General to directly instruct and gather the previously disbanded (financial crime investigation) organizations and prosecutors to work specially."

Meanwhile, Kim Bong-hyun, former chairman of Star Mobility and known as the behind-the-scenes figure of Lime Asset Management, appeared as a witness at the trial of Lee Kang-se, CEO of Star Mobility, who was indicted on embezzlement charges on the 8th, and reportedly testified, "In July last year, I handed over 50 million won to former Blue House Senior Secretary for Political Affairs Kang Ki-jung through CEO Lee."

In response, former Senior Secretary Kang denied the claim in an interview with CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' on the 13th, saying, "I think I met Lee Kang-se for about 20 minutes at the Blue House on July 28 last year," and "I received a text from him the day before saying he wanted to meet, so we met after a long time."

He explained, "There is no structure that allows money to be brought into the Blue House," and added, "Even Blue House staff, and at least the senior secretaries, undergo bag checks when coming and going, and must pass through X-ray scanners when entering."

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