Park Soon-chul, Head of Southern District Prosecutors' Office, Resigns... Direct Confrontation with Increasing Attacks from Choo

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The day after Kim Bong-hyun, the former chairman of Star Mobility and a key figure in the Lime scandal who was indicted and detained, issued his second statement, the head of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, who is leading the investigation into this case, suddenly tendered his resignation. This appears to be a 'direct backlash' against Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae's exercise of investigative authority, accompanied by criticism that Kim's revelations and the ensuing political controversy are far removed from the essence of the matter.

Park Soon-cheol, Chief Prosecutor of Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office Photo by Yonhap News

Park Soon-chul: "Politics Has Overwhelmed the Prosecution"

On the morning of the 22nd, Park Soon-chul, head of the Southern District Prosecutors' Office, posted a message titled "Position on the Lime Scandal" on the internal prosecution network, iPross, stating, "Politics has overwhelmed the prosecution," and announced, "I am now planning to step down from my position as a prosecutor." Park explained, "The essence of the Lime Asset Management scandal, which caused damage worth approximately 1.5 trillion won to many people, is that Kim Bong-hyun is under investigation and trial for crimes such as embezzlement and fraud amounting to around 100 billion won," adding, "The lobbying incident is only a part of that process. However, with Kim Bong-hyun's two statements released ahead of the National Assembly audit, distrust and suspicion regarding the Lime investigation have intensified, leading to a worrying situation where distrust in the prosecution is spreading." He continued, "In a situation where the political sphere and media continue to criticize based on their own interests, I believe that no matter what investigative results the Lime investigation team produces, its fairness will inevitably be doubted."

Park also refuted the suspicions raised about the prosecution's investigation into the Lime scandal point by point. He said, "Since the corruption of prosecutors was first revealed through Kim Bong-hyun's statement, there was no report to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. Regarding the investigation into opposition party politicians' corruption, the former head of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office reported regularly every two weeks to the Prosecutor General through meeting reports around May," adding, "Since then, the investigation has progressed significantly, and on August 31, the investigation status was reported to the new head of the Anti-Corruption Department and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. Both the current and former investigation teams, including myself, have naturally been conducting the investigation, so there can be no suspicion regarding this matter."

Former Star Mobility Chairman Kim Bong-hyun Photo by Yonhap News

Kim Bong-hyun Trying to Corner the Prosecution and Gain Advantage in Trial

Park's resignation is analyzed to have been influenced by Kim's successive prison revelations. Previously, Kim released a 14-page second prison statement to the media, repeatedly raising suspicions of 'prosecutorial misconduct' and 'fabricated investigations.' He claimed that the investigation into the political and business lobbying allegations related to the Lime fund, which had so far focused on ruling party politicians, was actually a framework set by corrupt prosecutors who had already decided the outcome.

In his first statement on the 16th, Kim confirmed the allegations of prosecutorial misconduct he had revealed and devoted most of his explanation to detailing the specific circumstances. He identified three prosecutors who had received drinking entertainment and mentioned their affiliations. He also referred to a request for dismissal of a warrant through the head of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office. Regarding political lobbying, he denied his own court testimony that "50 million won was delivered to former Blue House Senior Secretary for Political Affairs Kang Ki-jung through his close associate Lee Kang-se, CEO of Star Mobility," stating, "I never saw any exchange of money between the two at that time."

Kim's successive prison revelations primarily raised suspicions that the investigation and trial against him were proceeding according to a direction prearranged by corrupt prosecutors. There is also a view that he sent a signal to the ruling party, which is pursuing prosecutorial reform, as a rallying cry. Legal circles analyze that Kim's additional revelations aim to diminish the prosecution's position and secure a favorable position in his trial. An active prosecutor said, "Recently, there have been talks that the judiciary is controlled by the Moon Jae-in administration," adding, "From that perspective, it seems he is continuing these revelations hoping they will work to his advantage in his trial."

Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae [Photo by Yonhap News]

Opposition and Minister Choo Escalate Offensive Over Kim Bong-hyun's Revelations

The ruling party is preparing a counterattack in response to Kim's revelations. They are using the prosecution, under the command of Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, as evidence to argue for the necessity of establishing the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency (HICA), claiming that the prosecution conducted 'selective investigations' against the ruling party. On the same day, Kim Tae-nyeon, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, reiterated his commitment to launching HICA, stating, "This shows the unchecked and omnipotent corruption of the prosecution."

Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae also exercised her investigative authority based on Kim's prison statement, using it as justification for prosecutorial reform. She claimed, "Prosecutor General Yoon did not thoroughly direct the investigation despite being informed of opposition party and prosecutorial misconduct," pointing to Yoon as the mastermind behind the inadequate investigation. From the prosecution's perspective, Kim's single revelation has put the Prosecutor General in a corner, excluding him from investigative command.

Within the prosecution, voices call for verification of Kim's revelations. Prosecutor B, who has experience investigating financial crimes, said, "The investigation team has ended up having to focus solely on Kim's statements," adding, "He has contradicted himself so often that it is hard to trust his testimony. How can we trust his words?" He also criticized, "With Kim's revelations leading to the activation of investigative authority excluding Prosecutor General Yoon, it looks like a prearranged script. Who would trust the investigation results that come out of this?"

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