Joseong-eun "Plans to simultaneously disclose whether 'Yoon Seok-yeol' was mentioned in the call with Kim Woong"

"Whether Yoon Seok-yeol Was Mentioned, We'll Know When We Get There"
"Apologies for Park Ji-won's Investigation... The Term 'Tip-off Manipulation' Is Insulting"

The first whistleblower of the 'Prosecution Referral Scandal,' Jo Seong-eun, is responding to reporters' questions on the 5th at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, before filing a complaint with the Central District Prosecutors' Office against former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, People Power Party members Kim Woong, Kwon Seong-dong, Jang Je-won, and former members Ju Gwang-deok, Park Min-sik, and Kim Kyung-jin for violations of the Public Official Election Act and defamation, among other charges. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] Jo Seong-eun, the initial whistleblower in the so-called 'Prosecution Accusation Solicitation' scandal, stated regarding whether former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol's name was mentioned during a phone call with Kim Woong, a member of the People Power Party, "I plan to secure the information soon and disclose everything when the time is right."

In an interview with KBS Radio's 'Joo Jin-woo Live' on the 7th, when asked who the 'we' referred to in Kim's statement "We will prepare the accusation letter" during the call, Jo avoided a direct answer, saying, "It seems inappropriate to respond at the level of individual sentences or words."

Jo explained, "The voice recording is quite long, about 7 minutes. I believe that voice calls contain context and nuances that cannot be fully captured in writing," adding, "This is also why I requested the original audio recording, not just the transcript, through an information disclosure request."

When asked if she remembered Kim saying "Yoon Seok-yeol ordered it" during the call, she replied, "I plan to disclose everything at once," and added, "You will know once the original audio recording is secured and released."

Earlier, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) reportedly restored two voice recording files of calls between Jo and Kim around April 3, just before last year's general election.

According to multiple media reports, the recordings contain Kim's statement to the effect of "We will write the accusation letter and send it, so submit it to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office." Some media outlets reported that Kim said during the call, "If I go to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, it will look like Yoon Seok-yeol ordered me, so I have to stay out of it." On the 7th, Jo filed an information disclosure request with the CIO for these recordings.

Kim Woong, a member of the People Power Party, is attending the Environment and Labor Committee's national audit held at the National Assembly in Seoul on the morning of the 8th, engaging in a Q&A session with the press. / Photo by Yonhap News

On the 8th, in an interview with KBS Radio's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs,' Jo was asked if she specifically remembered anything about the call with Kim. She said, "There have been very detailed reports recently, so I was able to recall quite a lot," but added, "It might not be appropriate to engage in disputes over every sentence at this point."

When asked if she planned to request forensic analysis from a private company independently of the investigation agencies, she said, "While private restoration might resolve some questions, it is also very important to apply for administrative actions and retrieve the original submitted as a public interest report. I also intend to ensure that the investigation is not obstructed."

Regarding the so-called 'whistleblower solicitation' suspicion that National Intelligence Service Director Park Ji-won was behind the scenes, and the CIO's filing of charges against Park on the 5th for violating the National Intelligence Service Act and Public Official Election Act, Jo said, "It is a very important time for Director Park to carry out his duties, so I feel very sorry and heavy-hearted," adding, "I think the term 'whistleblower solicitation' itself is very insulting."

She continued, "We never even discussed such words, but if someone said 'reveal the truth,' I find it very questionable whether that constitutes solicitation. The People Power Party is severely discouraging public interest whistleblowing," and said, "I am very concerned that the CIO might tolerate this, and I just hope this matter is resolved quickly."

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