Central District Prosecutors' Office Investigates Case of Prosecutor General's Inspection Division Chief's Report on 'Seizure of Spokesperson's Official Phone'

Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Seocho-dong, Seoul. / Photo by Choi Seok-jin

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office will investigate the case in which the head of the Inspection Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office seized official phones used by spokespersons during former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol's tenure without a warrant.

According to the legal community on the 10th, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office received a complaint from the civic group "Action Alliance for Restoring the Rule of Law (Beopse-ryeon)" on the 7th, accusing the head of the Inspection Division of coercion and abuse of authority, and transferred the case to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office the day before.

Kim Deok-gon, head of Inspection Division 3, on the 29th of last month, seized and conducted forensic analysis on the spokespersons' official phones held by the spokesperson office in a voluntary submission manner, stating that he would investigate the "allegations of complaint solicitation" and the "alleged documents related to Yoon Seok-yeol candidate's mother-in-law response."

The devices were used by former spokespersons Kwon Soon-jung and Lee Chang-soo during former Prosecutor General Yoon's tenure, and by current spokesperson Seo In-seon until September.

It is known that Kim stated during the process of receiving the official phones, "Not cooperating with the inspection is also an inspection matter."

Furthermore, he ignored Seo's request to notify former spokesperson Kwon, the subject of the inspection, about the seizure of the official phones, and even prevented Seo from directly informing him, claiming it would constitute a "(inspection) leak."

The Inspection Department asked the administrative staff of the spokesperson office, who was in charge of the devices, if they wished to observe the process, but the staff refused, stating that the phones were not personally used by them.

Ultimately, the Inspection Department conducted the forensic analysis freely without any observers and without any restrictions on the information to be extracted.

A few days later, the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Division raided the Inspection Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and took the forensic data from the official phones, sparking controversy over "subcontracted inspection."

The omission of notification and observation procedures during the forensic process led to expanded allegations of illegality, and the seizure and search of the spokespersons' official phones without a warrant, which serve as a communication channel between the prosecution and the media, raised concerns that it might be "media censorship disguised as inspection." However, the Inspection Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office only issued a single explanatory statement and did not provide further clarification.

The day before, reporters covering the Supreme Prosecutors' Office directly approached Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo, demanding that he instruct Inspection Department Chief Han Dong-soo or Inspector Kim to provide explanations, but Prosecutor General Kim declined. He stated that although he was informed in advance about the seizure of the official phones, he did not approve the forensic analysis without observers.

Chief Han of the Inspection Department informed the press corps late in the afternoon of the previous day that he would distribute additional written explanations, but when the press corps demanded a face-to-face briefing and he refused, he posted the press release on his Facebook page.

On the 7th, Beopse-ryeon filed a criminal complaint against the head of the Inspection Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office for coercion and abuse of authority, stating, "In the process of securing the official mobile phones used by former spokesperson Kwon Soon-jung and others in relation to the investigation of the complaint solicitation allegations and the documents concerning former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol's mother-in-law, the Inspection Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office coerced current spokesperson Seo In-seon by saying, 'If you do not submit the phone, it constitutes non-cooperation with the inspection, which is also an inspection matter,' effectively forcing her to perform an act she was not obligated to do. Therefore, we have criminally charged the head of the Inspection Division under Article 324 (Coercion) and Article 123 (Abuse of Authority and Obstruction of Rights) of the Criminal Act."

Beopse-ryeon also pointed out, "The act of forcibly obtaining the spokesperson's official mobile phone by the Inspection Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office is clearly an abuse of inspection authority, a political inspection, and a serious anti-constitutional crime involving media surveillance and censorship of reporting."

They added, "This case clearly infringes on the constitutional freedom of the press and involves political inspection with impure motives, including election interference. Given the gravity of the matter, we strongly urge the prosecution to conduct a swift and thorough investigation and to severely punish the accused."

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