Kim Bong-hyun Alcohol Entertainment 3-Party Confrontation... "Lee Jong-pil Also Testified About 'Drinking Party with Prosecutors'" (Summary)

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

[Asia Economy reporters Seongpil Cho and Byeongdon Yoo] On the 17th, the prosecution investigating the 'prosecutor drinking entertainment allegations' exposed by former Star Mobility Chairman Kim Bong-hyun (46, detained) conducted a three-party confrontation investigation involving Kim, former Lime Asset Management Vice President Lee Jong-pil, and former Blue House administrative officer Kim Mo.

All three reportedly testified that the drinking party at the time was an entertainment event aimed at prosecutors.

The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office's special investigation team for the prosecutor entertainment and bribery case (team leader Kim Rak-hyun, head of the 6th Criminal Division) summoned Kim, Lee, and Kim, who are detained in the detention center, for the confrontation investigation starting at 2 p.m. that day.

The confrontation investigation reportedly lasted about 2 hours and 30 minutes. During the session, former Vice President Lee and former administrative officer Kim provided detailed explanations of the situation and testified that the date was more likely to be July 18.

After the confrontation investigation, former Chairman Kim released a statement through his lawyer containing these details. He also claimed, "Former Vice President Lee said, 'Since the prosecutor treated me well and the sentencing had not yet been decided, he did not actively testify because he did not want this case to become noisy.'"

Former Chairman Kim further stated, "Former administrative officer Kim testified that it was unfair to label me, who was merely an investor in the Lime fund, as the 'core' of the Lime incident and to slander me as a power-protected faction."

Lee Jong-pil, former Vice President of Lime Asset Management Photo by Yonhap News

Earlier, former Chairman Kim claimed in a prison letter released last month that in July 2019, he entertained a former prosecutor A-lawyer and three active prosecutors with about 10 million won worth of drinks at a room salon in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

In the subsequent prosecution investigation, former Chairman Kim pointed to July 12 and 18 as the dates of the entertainment and testified that former Vice President Lee and former administrative officer Kim also joined the drinking party at that time.

Former administrative officer Kim, a hometown friend of former Chairman Kim, was investigated to have visited the room salon, known as the entertainment venue, several times. He handed over Financial Supervisory Service documents to former Chairman Kim there and was indicted on charges of receiving money and valuables in return, receiving a four-year prison sentence in the first trial.

Meanwhile, the prosecution is accelerating the investigation by summoning two active prosecutors and lawyer A, who were pointed out as targets of the entertainment, as suspects on the 15th. They are known to have denied the charges during the prosecution investigation.

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