Kim Bong-hyun: "Ruling party lobbying was false testimony... Please have the Corruption Investigation Office investigate the prosecution"

Denies Lobbying Allegations Again in Prosecutor's Summons on the 15th
"Prosecutors and Former Lawyers Coerced... Exposed Through 'Okjung Letter'"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] Kim Bong-hyun, former chairman of Star Mobility (46, currently detained), a key figure in the Lime Asset Management scandal who exposed allegations of 'prosecutor and political lobbying,' has once again denied lobbying allegations against ruling party politicians.

On the 16th, Kim released a statement through his lawyer, saying, "I completely denied the allegations of lobbying ruling party politicians during the prosecution investigation conducted the previous day."

Initially, during the prosecution investigation, he made statements implying that he had lobbied ruling party figures such as former Blue House Senior Secretary for Political Affairs Kang Ki-jung and Democratic Party lawmaker Ki Dong-min, but after an "in-prison letter" in October, he changed his position to say, "I have never given money to ruling party politicians."

Kim claimed that the reason for reversing his testimony was due to coaxing by former prosecutor A lawyer and a prosecutor.

He stated, "After being arrested at the end of April, I received a proposal from lawyer A saying, 'If you cooperate with the prosecution as much as possible and catch former Senior Secretary Kang Ki-jung, you can be released on bail.' In reality, even though there was no (ruling party lobbying) fact, I gradually changed my memory and testified to the prosecutor," he asserted.

He added, "The prosecutor did not explicitly tell me to change my testimony, but said things like, 'If this happens, the investigation will fail, and you will be attacked later during the trial.' Because of this, I made statements I did not remember while listening to other witnesses' testimonies presented by the prosecutor."

Regarding the reason for later reversing his testimony, he explained, "At first, the angle of the (testimony) was only slightly off, but later, the case took a completely different direction. Feeling a pang of conscience about controlling other people's lives, I made a conscience declaration through the in-prison statement."

Kim pointed out problems in the prosecution investigation process and requested that the newly established High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office conduct a fact-finding investigation in the future.

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