Kim Jin-wook, Head of the Corruption Investigation Office, Decides to Reassign the Cases of Lee Seong-yoon and Lee Kyu-won Related to Kim Hak-ui's Travel Ban to Suwon District Prosecutors' Office

Kim Jin-wook, Chief of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency, is answering reporters' questions as he arrives at the Government Gwacheon Complex on the morning of the 12th.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The prosecution will resume investigation into the case involving Lee Seong-yoon, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, who is suspected of obstructing the investigation into Prosecutor Lee Gyu-won and others accused of illegal acts such as falsifying official documents during the emergency travel ban process against former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui.

On the 12th, Kim Jin-wook, Chief of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (HCIO), announced via the HCIO's social media (SNS) that "after much deliberation on how to handle the case transferred from the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, we have decided to re-transfer it to the prosecution."

Kim explained the background for not choosing the option of "direct investigation by the HCIO," stating, "We initially considered investigating the transferred case directly, but since the HCIO is currently in the process of selecting prosecutors and investigators, which may take more than 3 to 4 weeks, we could not ignore the fact that the practical conditions to fully focus on the investigation are not yet in place."

He added, "We also had to consider the realistic investigative conditions of the police if the case were transferred to them, as well as the customary practices in handling cases in relation to the prosecution. After careful consideration, we decided to re-transfer the case to the prosecution's investigation team to continue the investigation until the HCIO is fully established."

This decision by Chief Kim is based on Article 24, Paragraph 3 of the HCIO Act, which states that "the chief may transfer a case to another investigative agency if it is deemed appropriate for that agency to investigate high-ranking officials' crimes considering the suspect, victim, and the nature and scale of the case."

Previously, the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office summoned Prosecutor Lee four times for questioning. However, Lee Seong-yoon ignored three summons and submitted a written statement on the 26th of last month.

In a statement sent to reporters, he denied, "There was absolutely no fact that I, as head of the Anti-Corruption and Serious Crimes Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in 2019, directed not to investigate the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Anyang Branch or to withhold notification to the Suwon High Prosecutors' Office."

He also argued that according to Article 25, Paragraph 2 of the HCIO Act, which mandates that if another investigative agency discovers allegations of high-ranking officials' crimes by a prosecutor, the case must be transferred to the HCIO, "the HCIO, having received the case from the prosecution, cannot re-transfer the case back to the prosecution."

Confirming that Prosecutor Lee had no intention to comply with the prosecution's summons, the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, considering usual practice and the potential legal controversy of requesting an arrest warrant after three refusals to appear, transferred the case involving the two individuals to the HCIO on the 3rd.

The HCIO, having received the case, has been considering three options: ▲ direct investigation by the HCIO ▲ re-transfer to the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office ▲ transfer to the National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters (NIH).

Chief Kim expressed that "direct investigation by the HCIO is not impossible," but since no HCIO prosecutors have been appointed yet, initiating a direct investigation would inevitably cause a significant suspension of the investigation, making it difficult to avoid criticism for delaying the investigation.

Moreover, transferring the case to the NIH would contradict the intent of the prosecution-police investigative authority adjustment, which stipulates that investigations of high-ranking officials at level 3 or above should be conducted by the prosecution. Additionally, arrest or search warrants requested by the NIH would have to be filed by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, which oversees the police agency, and the decision on prosecution would also be handled by the Central District Prosecutors' Office headed by Prosecutor Lee, raising concerns.

Chief Kim's decision to re-transfer the case to the prosecution appears to be a comprehensive choice considering these circumstances.

With the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office resuming the investigation of Prosecutor Lee, who had previously refused summons, it is expected that new summons will be issued. Since jurisdictional issues have been resolved, if Prosecutor Lee again refuses to appear, the possibility of requesting an arrest warrant cannot be ruled out.

Meanwhile, on the same day, Chief Kim held the first meeting of the personnel committee for selecting HCIO prosecutors to discuss the schedule and selection criteria for appointing HCIO prosecutors.

The meeting was attended by seven members: Chief Kim, Deputy Chief Yeo Woon-guk, Lee Young-joo, Director of the Human Rights Counseling Center at Seoul National University Human Rights Center appointed by Chief Kim, ruling party recommended lawyers Na Ki-ju and Oh Young-jung, and opposition party recommended lawyers Yoo Il-jun and Kim Young-jong.

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