Kim Eui-gyeom: "Yoon Seok-yeol said 'Cho Kuk is a bad guy,' and there was an internal report on the private equity fund"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] Kim Eui-gyeom, a member of the Open Democratic Party, claimed that former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol told a Blue House official before the investigation of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk that "I know private equity funds well, and Cho Kuk is a bad guy." This contradicts Yoon’s statement that he never discussed related matters with the Blue House before the investigation began.

On the 1st, Kim appeared on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' and said, "Based on my investigation and judgment, a large-scale raid was conducted at about thirty locations on August 27 two years ago. I think the situation before and after that is different." Kim served as the spokesperson for the Presidential Secretariat from January 2018 to March 2019.

He said, "Before that, Prosecutor General Yoon was in a pleading mode. He said, 'Give me a chance to meet the President alone. I have experience with Lone Star, so I know private equity funds well, and Cho Kuk is a bad guy. The President should not appoint him, and I want a chance to meet and explain directly.'"

When the host asked, "Isn't it a bit much to say 'bad guy'?" he replied, "No. He did use that expression."

He continued, "Since the request for a private meeting with the President was not accepted, after the large-scale raid on thirty locations on August 27, it turned into a kind of show of force and use of power. The Blue House senior secretaries were furious. Cho Kuk had already received his appointment letter, and they said, 'Are you trying to shake the President’s personnel authority? Is this resistance to prosecutorial reform?' Then Prosecutor General Yoon said, 'No, we just need to cut out Cho Kuk, just remove Cho Kuk. That is actually the way to help the President,'" he claimed.

Former Prosecutor General Yoon said during a Q&A with reporters on the 29th of last month when declaring his political participation, "Before the investigation began, no one met with Blue House officials to say they would just cut someone out or mention private equity funds. That should never happen. Giving a signal before the raid starts goes against the principles of investigation."

When asked if the statement "I will just cut out Cho Kuk" was made around the time of the raid on Cho Kuk’s residence, Kim said, "Yes." He added, "It could have been conveyed through senior secretaries or secretaries. That meaning was delivered." When asked who it was directed at, he said, "I don’t think it is appropriate to say now."

He also said, "I can’t be 100% sure if the exact wording was the six syllables meaning 'cut out,' but it was the same intent."

He went on, "The direct trigger was the so-called internal report on private equity funds. There was already a document related to private equity funds within the prosecution before August 27," he claimed. "This is based on what I investigated."

Kim asserted, "First, there was underlying resistance and backlash against prosecutorial reform, and as a trigger to realize that, there was a report related to private equity funds."

The day before, the Supreme Court upheld a four-year prison sentence for Cho Beom-dong, a fifth cousin of former Minister Cho Kuk, who was accused of embezzling company funds while effectively operating a private equity fund. However, the court ruled that Professor Jung Kyung-shim, Cho Kuk’s wife, was not guilty of conspiracy, maintaining the lower court’s judgment that drew a line from 'power-related crimes.'

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