The Changing Tide in Prosecution: Delaying Indictments on 'Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant' and Starting Investigation on Chief Auditor Choi Jae-hyung

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Amid the suspension by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office of the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office's plan to indict key figures in the 'Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 Economic Feasibility Evaluation Manipulation' case, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office has instead begun an investigation into Choi Jae-hyung, the Chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection, who provided the foundational materials for the case.

The timing of the suspension of indictment and the commencement of the investigation appears to be exquisite, leading legal circles to analyze that a full-scale 'retaliatory investigation' by the current administration may have begun.

According to legal sources on the 29th, the Public Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Yang Dong-hoon) has started investigating Chairman Choi, who provided materials related to the investigation of the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 case.

The investigation team reportedly first summoned Professor Cho, who recently served as a director on the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) board, as a witness for questioning.

Professor Cho was the only one to cast a dissenting vote during the KHNP board's 2018 decision to prematurely shut down Wolseong Unit 1. The prosecution suspects that Professor Cho was subjected to coercive interrogation by the Board of Audit and Inspection.

Earlier, in October last year, the Board of Audit and Inspection concluded that the economic feasibility of Wolseong Unit 1 was unreasonably undervalued due to involvement by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KHNP, and referred the case to the prosecution along with reference materials.

In response, in November last year, civic and environmental groups filed a complaint accusing Chairman Choi and the auditors of abuse of authority, alleging that they conducted an excessive audit aimed at attacking the nuclear phase-out policy.

The prosecution is known to have started the investigation following this complaint. However, as the prosecution began investigating Chairman Choi while postponing final decisions on major investigations targeting the administration, legal and political circles are suspicious of the background. It is seen that with the imminent appointment of Kim Oh-soo, a candidate for Prosecutor General known to be pro-government, the direction of the prosecution's investigations is reversing.

Prior to the investigation of Chairman Choi, Cho Nam-gwan, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office (acting Prosecutor General), withdrew the report from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and district prosecutors' offices to indict former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Baek Woon-gyu and former Blue House Industrial Policy Secretary Chae Hee-bong (current President of Korea Gas Corporation) without detention on charges of abuse of authority related to the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant case. He then sent an official letter stating that "it is appropriate for the succeeding Prosecutor General to handle this important nuclear power plant case."

Additionally, after receiving a report from the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office to indict Lee Kwang-chul, Blue House Civil Affairs Secretary suspected of involvement in the illegal travel ban of former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui, without detention, he deliberated for over two weeks and ultimately deferred the decision.

Accordingly, these two cases are expected to be entrusted to Kim Oh-soo, the candidate for Prosecutor General whose appointment is expected to be pushed through next week.

It is anticipated that after Kim's inauguration, it will become clear whether the administration's retaliatory investigations have fully commenced. Kim is evaluated as politically biased. He has been mentioned as a candidate for key positions throughout this administration and participated in the current government's prosecution reform as Deputy Minister of Justice.

Voices of concern have already begun to emerge. On the same day, Joo Ho-young, a member of the People Power Party, criticized the prosecution's investigation of Chairman Choi on social media (SNS), saying, "An utterly absurd situation is unfolding," and pointed out, "They were told to catch the thieves, but they are gearing up to arrest the watchdog."

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