Mystery Surrounding Allegations of Reported Instigation... 'Whistleblower, Possibility of Retroactive Official Report Application'

All Parties Deny or Give Conflicting Explanations
Whistleblower Likely to Be Protected as Public Interest Reporter

Prosecutors from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials are conducting a search and seizure at the National Assembly office of Kim Woong, a key figure in the so-called whistleblowing scandal involving former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, on the 10th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The parties involved in the 'accusation commission' suspicion are all taking ambiguous attitudes or giving irrational testimonies, plunging the situation into confusion. Prosecutor Son Joon-sung, who is suspected of writing the accusation letter on behalf of Kim Woong, a member of the People Power Party, while commissioning the accusation against ruling party figures, denies it, saying "That did not happen," while Kim Woong gave inconsistent explanations such as "It can be seen that way" and "No." The whistleblower who could testify to an important piece of the puzzle is also rumored to be some politicians, but it has become difficult to specify concrete individuals.

On the 10th, Jeon Hyun-hee, Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, appeared on the radio and said, "When the Commission takes protective measures for a whistleblower, the protection takes effect retroactively from the moment he reports to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office," urging, "Everyone should be careful." This is a warning that the protection timing is applied retroactively according to the Whistleblower Protection Act. Currently, a certain Mr. Mo, known as the whistleblower, has come forward to the prosecution himself and requested protection as a whistleblower, and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office has accepted this. Based on Chairperson Jeon's remarks, the identity of the whistleblower, currently shrouded in secrecy, has become legally more difficult to specify.

Jo Seong-eun, who was once known as the whistleblower, threatened legal action, calling the mention of herself as a whistleblower "false information," but when asked by the media whether she was the whistleblower or not, she gave an inconsistent remark, saying, "That is not important." Jo was active in the Future United Party (now People Power Party) election campaign during last year's general election and recently posted criticism of former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl on Facebook. Also, it is unknown whether the person who appeared anonymously on JTBC the day before and claimed to be the whistleblower is Jo or a third party.

Meanwhile, in the legal community, it is reported that after analyzing the mobile phones and other devices submitted by the whistleblower to the prosecution, it was judged that the images of the accusation letters delivered to Assemblyman Kim were not fabricated. The likelihood that Prosecutor Son wrote the problematic accusation letter has somewhat increased.

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