The Corruption Investigation Office Re-summons Prosecutor Son Joon-sung Today Over 'Alleged Report Solicitation'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The High-ranking Officials’ Crime Investigation Unit (HOCI) will summon Son Junsung, the Human Rights Protection Officer at Daegu High Prosecutors’ Office and a key suspect in the 'accusation solicitation' scandal, for questioning again on the 10th.

Previously, HOCI first summoned Prosecutor Son for investigation on the 2nd. This will be the second time. Attention is focused on whether the second investigation will differ from the first, which reportedly yielded no significant results.

Prosecutor Son is accused of abusing his authority by instructing prosecutors under his command, while serving as the Investigation Information Policy Officer at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in April last year, to draft accusations and collect supporting evidence against figures from the ruling party, and sending these to Kim Woong, a member of the People Power Party, thereby soliciting accusations to the opposition party.

On the 5th, HOCI conducted a search and seizure at the Inspection Department of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office and is expected to use the secured materials to pressure Prosecutor Son during questioning. Among the materials obtained by HOCI is forensic data from the public phone of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office spokesperson, which was submitted voluntarily by the Inspection Department. This raises the possibility that the involvement of Kwon Soonjung, the former spokesperson of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office who was registered as a suspect last month, will also be investigated. Furthermore, they are likely to question whether Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party’s presidential candidate, was involved during his tenure as Prosecutor General.

Additionally, HOCI had registered an investigation last month on the so-called 'judge surveillance document' illegal drafting allegations against candidate Yoon, drawing attention to whether related investigations will take place on this day as well. The Investigation Information Policy Office, where Prosecutor Son was assigned, is known to have drafted the document and delivered it to the Anti-Corruption & Strong Crime Division and the Public Investigation Division at that time.

However, HOCI faces difficulties in conducting a rigorous investigation due to a complaint filed by Prosecutor Son’s side with the National Human Rights Commission. Prosecutor Son’s side strongly protested, claiming that HOCI violated human rights during the process of requesting an arrest warrant and summoning for investigation, and on the 8th filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission against four officials including Deputy Chief Yeo Woon-guk of HOCI.

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