At the Public Officials Corruption Investigation Unit Hearing, the Ruling Party Calls for Investigation into 'Gobal Saju', while the Opposition Demands Probe into 'Daejangdong' Allegations

On the afternoon of the 12th, Kim Jin-wook, the head of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, attended the National Assembly inspection of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials held by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] In the first National Assembly inspection since the establishment of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency (HOCI), the ruling party emphasized the seriousness of the 'report solicitation' allegations involving former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, while the opposition highlighted the gravity of the 'Daejang-dong Development Project preferential treatment' allegations involving Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung, each urging strict investigations.

Ruling party lawmakers referred to media reports comparing the 'report solicitation' allegations to the past National Security Planning Agency's North Korea-related psychological warfare incident, while opposition lawmakers intensified their attacks by calling the 'Daejang-dong Gate' the 'Lee Jae-myung Gate.'

So Byung-chul: "An unprecedented national scandal"... "Should announce interim investigation status"

First to open fire, So Byung-chul, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, displayed a PowerPoint (PPT) slide and said, "I have repeatedly pointed out the seriousness of the case referred to in the media as the 'report solicitation' incident recently. Especially, the senior presidential candidate from the same party, a former prosecutor, has also commented on the main figure, candidate Yoon Seok-yeol."

He then read various descriptions evaluating the 'report solicitation' allegations, including ▲attempted election interference through prosecution manipulation ▲abuse of prosecution for election interference ▲collusion between candidate Yoon Seok-yeol and the United Future Party to interfere in the general election ▲an unconstitutional national scandal denying the foundation of democracy ▲a 'three no' presidential candidate case involving reciprocal report solicitation to become a presidential candidate.

So emphasized, "Recently, a senior journalist well-versed in legal affairs at Hankook Ilbo said this is an unprecedented case akin to the National Intelligence Service's North Korea psychological warfare operation. If the ruling party personnel and journalists were instructed by the opposition to file reports, it is a national scandal. The honor and ethics of the prosecution are at stake."

He added, "I have written about the progress of this case as reported in the media. Recently, recordings have revealed that Representative Kim Woong and Ms. Jo Seong-eun requested the Southern District Prosecutors' Office to accept the report. This suggests there is a scenario. It does not appear to be a mere spontaneous incident."

He asked, "I hope the Director will share your conviction on whether you will thoroughly investigate the entire scenario and your will to uphold the constitution regarding the significance of this case."

So also mentioned the HOCI's public relations guidelines, stating, "It allows for exceptions to disclose investigation status when there are false reports, the public's right to know, or media requests."

He continued, "In this national scandal, the accused Son Jun-sung completely denies the facts, Representative Kim also says he does not remember and calls it political manipulation, and former Prosecutor General Yoon denies the allegations. Are these all false reports? Then, for their privacy and personality rights, the facts must be clarified accurately, at least in the interim."

He stressed, "Regarding the importance of this case, where could there be a more important case? It is trying to completely destroy South Korea's liberal democracy. Yet, the person who wants to become the president of South Korea talks about liberal democracy."

He urged, "You should exceptionally disclose the interim investigation status."

In response to So's remarks, Director Kim said, "As far as I know, the suspicion was first raised on September 2."

He added, "If the suspicion is confirmed as such, anyone would consider it a serious case in our country's constitutional order. Since the core suspicion involves abuse of authority, which falls under HOCI's jurisdiction, we thought we had no choice but to handle it. If we have to handle it, it is better to proactively secure evidence rather than reluctantly being pushed. We started the investigation quickly because the sooner we investigate, the sooner it can be concluded."

Kwon Seong-dong: "Daejang-dong Gate is Lee Jae-myung Gate"... "HOCI should investigate allegations of lawyer fee payments"

In a counterattack, Kwon Seong-dong, a member of the People Power Party, first asked Director Kim, "What is the role of HOCI?"

He said, "It was established to investigate power-related corruption, like the former Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Central Investigation Department or the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's Special Investigation Department. But after nine months, there has not been a single proper investigation case."

Kwon pointed out, "There have been no investigations into bribery cases involving public officials or cases involving vested interests. Many citizens doubt whether HOCI has any reason to exist."

He asked Director Kim again, "What is the power-related corruption case that the public is most interested in right now?"

Director Kim replied, "As far as I know, HOCI is handling the report solicitation case and the Daejang-dong case."

Kwon emphasized, "The Daejang-dong case has three to four times more public interest than the so-called report solicitation case, according to opinion polls." He also pointed out that the case with the most personnel currently assigned by HOCI is the report solicitation case.

Kwon stressed that the recently announced ruling party primary results were also influenced by the Daejang-dong Gate.

He said, "All citizens are angry about the Daejang-dong case, the so-called Lee Jae-myung Gate. In the third round of the Democratic Party presidential primary, even in the metropolitan area, the national election committee and overseas Koreans voted about 6 to 3 for candidate Lee Nak-yeon."

He continued, "They did not vote for candidate Lee Jae-myung because they recognize that the Lee Jae-myung Gate, the Daejang-dong Gate, is a massive corruption case involving preferential treatment, and that the main culprit, the so-called architect, is Lee Jae-myung."

He added, "Those who like the Democratic Party perceive that if Lee Jae-myung becomes the presidential candidate, it will ultimately end in a Democratic Party defeat. I believe the embezzlement charge involving nearly 1 trillion won in profits is undeniable. Why is there no investigation into this, even though there is a report?" he pressed Director Kim.

When Director Kim trailed off saying, "We do not have jurisdiction to investigate," Kwon said, "There is one case where you do have jurisdiction."

He then argued that HOCI should investigate allegations of Lee Jae-myung's lawyer fee payments made by third parties.

Kwon pointed out, "Lee Jae-myung's defense team for the election law violation case consists of 30 members, including former Supreme Court justices, former Constitutional Court justices, and former prosecutors general."

He asked Director Kim, "Considering such a luxurious defense team, how much do you think the legal fees would be?"

Kwon said, "Prosecutor General Kang Chan-woo and Supreme Court Justice Lee Sang-hoon receive at least 100 million won per case level. However, from 2018 to 2020, Lee Jae-myung's asset declarations show almost no change," he pointed out.

He added, "There are reports that 2.3 billion won was paid to lawyer Lee Tae-hyung alone. Is that possible with a governor's salary?"

He continued, "Therefore, it must be investigated whether the lawyer fees were actually paid by him or if a third party like Yoo Dong-gyu made the payments. Since this happened during his governorship, HOCI has jurisdiction. HOCI was created to investigate such matters," urging HOCI to conduct the investigation.

Kwon said, "Lee Jae-myung, who criticized high legal fees and preferential treatment for former officials in criminal cases, hired all high-ranking former officials as lawyers, including recent appointees. This is a typical case of double standards. I believe the source of the lawyer fees should be investigated," again pressing Director Kim.

Director Kim replied, "We have not received any reports yet..."

Kwon responded, "What is the need for a report? You can initiate an investigation ex officio."

When Director Kim said, "If the law is amended to increase personnel, there might be room," Kwon said, "The current personnel is sufficient. One prosecutor with one investigator can conduct the investigation. Just follow the accounts."

Kwon cited specific examples to emphasize the need to investigate Lee Jae-myung's lawyer fee payment allegations again.

He said, "Usually, it would be like this. The funds were sent under Lee Jae-myung's name, but if you investigate the source of the funds, you can quickly find out whether Lee actually sent them. Formally, it would appear as if Lee sent them, but there might be cases where that is not true."

He added, "Many lawyers who advised or were involved in projects related to Daejang-dong or Lee Jae-myung probably compensated with consultation fees or other expenses. Please investigate this. If you investigate, it will come out immediately. You do not need many investigators. How can you be a suspect?"

Director Kim replied, "We will keep your comments in mind and review them."

Kwon said again, "If you do not do this, HOCI should be abolished. Please actively consider it," to which Director Kim responded, "Yes, I will keep it in mind."

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