Jin Joong-kwon on the 'Yoon Seok-yeol and Park Ji-won Gate': "There was never any gate to begin with"

"NIS Chief Warns of Presidential Impeachment Over 'Tip Solicitation'"

Park Ji-won, Director of the National Intelligence Service (left), Yoon Seok-yeol, former Prosecutor General (right) [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol's 'solicitation of prosecution' allegation is spreading into National Intelligence Service Director Park Ji-won's 'solicitation of tip-off' allegation, but former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon firmly stated, "There is no gate."

On the 15th, Jin posted on his Facebook, saying, "Is it the Yoon Seok-yeol gate or the Park Ji-won gate? The most plausible scenario is that there was no gate from the beginning."

Jin said, "At that time, Yoon Seok-yeol had no reason to solicit prosecution. He himself filed a complaint against The Hankyoreh newspaper's erroneous report," adding, "Why would he risk doing something with no benefit during such a sensitive period? The investigation that was ongoing had already been completely stopped to avoid influencing the election."

Regarding the internet media outlet 'Newsbus,' which first reported the 'solicitation of prosecution' allegation, Jin said it was justified but criticized, "Newsbus's report went beyond proven 'facts' into the realm of weakly supported 'interpretations.' The evidence Newsbus presented to claim Yoon solicited prosecution was merely that Son Jun-sung was the head of the Investigation Information Policy Office, and the circumstantial evidence was the testimony of Lee Jung-hyun, head of the Public Investigation Department, that the Investigation Information Policy Office collected information about the prosecutor general's family at that time."

Jin criticized, "Everyone knows that Lee Jung-hyun is a politically biased figure. To present such an untrustworthy person's testimony as 'circumstantial evidence' is absurd."

Regarding Director Park's 'solicitation of tip-off' allegation, Jin explained, "The Park Ji-won gate is actually the least plausible assumption. If he had done such a thing and got caught, the regime itself would collapse. If the head of the National Intelligence Service did that, it could even lead to the president's impeachment. No matter how cunning Park Ji-won is as a 'political master,' he would not dare to commit such an act."

He added, "Unless the documents received by Cho Sung-eun show signs of fabrication, the assumption that a fabricated complaint predicting events of this year was sent in advance in April last year is utterly bizarre. If there was fabrication, it would have had to occur recently. Since Cho Sung-eun has submitted her phone to the investigative agency, it is reasonable to believe there is no manipulation of the device or documents."

Jang Je-won, a member of the National Assembly and chief of the comprehensive situation room at the People Power Party's presidential primary campaign for former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, raised suspicions on the morning of the 12th at the National Assembly Communication Office in Yeouido, Seoul, regarding a meeting with Park Ji-won, the Director of the National Intelligence Service, and Cho Seong-eun, the whistleblower of the 'prosecution indictment ordering' allegation and former vice chairman of the United Future Party (now People Power Party) election committee.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Currently, former Prosecutor General Yoon's side is claiming the 'solicitation of prosecution' allegation is a 'Park Ji-won gate.' Jang Je-won, a member of the People Power Party and chief of staff for Yoon's presidential campaign, held an emergency press conference at the National Assembly on the 12th, stating that Cho Sung-eun, former vice-chair of the Future United Party (now People Power Party) election committee who reported the 'solicitation of prosecution' allegation, met with Director Park before the allegation was reported. Based on this, he said, "There is suspicion that Director Park intervened in the presidential election to eliminate a leading opposition candidate." In response, Director Park rebutted on YTN on the 14th, saying, "That is impossible."

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