Kim Bong-hyun: "I Never Refused Prosecutor's Investigation... Rather, Prosecutors Avoided Investigating Room Salon"

"Prosecutors Claim I Refuse Investigation Over Additional Indictment Concerns to Court"
"Responded to Investigation Today Following the 17th... Prosecutors Say It's Difficult on Their Side"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] Kim Bong-hyun, former chairman of Star Mobility (46, in custody), who exposed allegations of prosecutors receiving alcohol entertainment, has strongly refuted claims that he is not cooperating with the prosecution's investigation.

Kim stated that the prosecution is making such claims to delay the announcement of the investigation results regarding the prosecutors who received alcohol entertainment, and he demanded that the investigation into him be handed over to the Special Prosecutor or the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO).

In a statement released on the 24th through his lawyer, Kim said, "Following the 17th, I expressed my willingness to comply with the prosecution's investigation request today, but the prosecution is making false claims that I am refusing additional investigations this month related to the bail case."

On the 17th, Kim underwent a confrontation investigation at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office with Lee Jong-pil, former vice president of Lime Asset Management (42, in custody), and was also questioned regarding lobbying allegations involving ruling party politicians.

The confrontation investigation with Lee lasted longer than the scheduled one hour, while the subsequent questioning about ruling party politicians was reportedly shorter.

Kim's side explained, "We requested to postpone the schedule to prepare for the bail hearing, but the prosecution insisted on a prompt investigation and set the schedule for 2 p.m. on the 24th, to which we agreed. However, the prosecution later informed us during lunchtime that the investigation could not proceed due to issues related to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19)."

He added, "However, in the opinion letter submitted by the prosecution to the court on the 18th, the prosecution falsely claimed that Kim is not actively cooperating with the investigation into ruling party politicians and has refused investigations this month since the 17th."

Furthermore, Kim's side claimed, "The prosecution wrote in the opinion letter that if Kim undergoes the investigation related to ruling party politicians this month, he could face additional indictments, and thus they are trying to postpone the bail hearing scheduled for the 27th of this month."

Regarding this, Kim's side stated, "This shows how displeased they are with Kim's conscience declaration and whistleblowing," and added, "The bail case, the ongoing trial, the current investigation, and the case requested for investigation by the Ministry of Justice are all being handled by prosecutors who were on the same team until recently with the prosecutors Kim claims received alcohol entertainment."

He said, "It is strongly suspected that the prosecution is delaying the announcement of the investigation results on the prosecutors who received alcohol entertainment, being mindful of the bail hearing date," and insisted, "The investigation into Kim should no longer be left to the prosecution but should be handled by the CIO or the Special Prosecutor."

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