Park Beom-gye "LH Special Prosecutor, Statement Made to Urge Swift and Thorough Investigation"

Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye and Chief Prosecutor Kim Jin-wook of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials are attending the plenary session of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held at the National Assembly on the 16th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] On the 16th, Park Beom-gye, Minister of Justice, stated regarding the push for a special prosecutor investigation into the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) scandal, "I understand that the discussion arose as a call for a swift and thorough investigation."

Minister Park responded to a question from Jo Soo-jin, a member of the People Power Party, at the National Assembly's Judiciary Committee plenary session by saying, "This is because the LH incident has caused public outrage."

Regarding whether the ruling party's initial request for a special prosecutor was due to distrust of the Ministry of Justice and the prosecution, Minister Park dismissed the notion, saying, "I have never even dreamed of such a thing."

Concerning the nationwide meeting of high prosecutors held the previous day, he said, "There was an opinion among the high prosecutors that in cases causing public outrage like this, the prosecution should be allowed to participate in investigations in organic cooperation with the police," adding, "I also thought it might be necessary to consider this to some extent within the broader framework of investigative authority reform."

On the refusal to extend the dispatch of prosecutors to the investigation team handling the illegal departure ban allegations against former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui, Minister Park stated, "I have no intention whatsoever of hindering the investigation," and "If that were the case, personnel changes would have been made."

Minister Park denied reports that he was furious over Kim Jin-wook, head of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), transferring the case to the prosecution, saying, "That never happened."

Regarding the allegations of witness tampering by the investigation team of former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook's case, he said, "I agree that a swift conclusion is necessary," and explained, "I plan to finish reviewing the records today. Around tomorrow or the day after, I intend to report on procedural issues related to inspection and investigation on one track and examine the substantive facts on another track."

On the promotion of establishing the Serious Crime Investigation Office (SCIO), Minister Park emphasized, "(Former Prosecutor General) Yoon Seok-youl's position is) not a variable at all."

When asked if the SCIO law was pushed to oust former Prosecutor General Yoon, Minister Park replied, "The party had already been approaching the SCIO bill cautiously even before Yoon decided to resign."

Regarding any differences between the ruling party and the Blue House on 'speed control' of the SCIO law promotion, Minister Park said, "I believe the President's remarks and the party's stance are not different," adding, "We share the same goal and will converge in the same direction."

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