'Call Controversy' Yeowoon-guk and Park Seong-jun Investigation Case, Investigated by Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Anyang Branch

From the left, Yeo Woon-guk, Deputy Chief of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, and Park Sung-joon, member of the Democratic Party of Korea.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The investigation into the case involving Yeo Woon-guk, Deputy Chief of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Division (PCC) under the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), and Park Seong-jun, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, who were reported for an 'inappropriate phone call' controversy by a civic group, will be conducted by the Anyang Branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office (Branch Chief Hyeong Jin-hwi).

According to the legal community on the 22nd, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office received a request for investigation from the civic group "Action Alliance for Establishing the Rule of Law (Beopse-ryeon)" on the 18th, alleging that the two violated the National Public Service Act, the Public Official Election Act, and the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act. The next day, the case was forwarded to the Anyang Branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office.

Deputy Chief Yeo and Representative Park were embroiled in controversy after allegations surfaced that they had a phone call and arranged a dinner appointment following the CIO's national audit last month.

The CIO acknowledged the phone call between the two but rebutted, stating, "The conversation did not include any content related to the investigation, and the claim that they made an appointment for the 22nd and later canceled it is not true."

Additionally, the CIO explained that since the Deputy Chief oversees general administrative duties including liaison with the National Assembly, he cannot avoid or refuse calls from members of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee.

However, in the sensitive context of an upcoming presidential election, concerns were raised that it was inappropriate for Deputy Chief Yeo, who is the lead prosecutor in the 'accusation manipulation' case involving Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, to have a phone call and discuss dinner plans with Representative Park, who serves as a joint spokesperson for the campaign of Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate and Yeo's political rival. Representative Park had recently urged a rigorous investigation into Yoon regarding the 'accusation manipulation' allegations at the National Assembly.

On the 18th, Beopse-ryeon submitted a request for investigation to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office via the National Petition System, alleging violations of the National Public Service Act, the Public Official Election Act, and the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act by Deputy Chief Yeo and Representative Park. The request also included allegations against Deputy Chief Yeo for violating Article 22 of the CIO Act, which mandates political neutrality for CIO officials.

At the time, Beopse-ryeon stated, "The phone call and meeting arrangement between Deputy Chief Yeo and Representative Park violated Article 22 of the CIO Act, which requires CIO officials to maintain political neutrality, and there is a possibility that the phone call involved discussions related to the investigation."

Lee Jong-bae, head of Beopse-ryeon, said in the investigation request, "It is a clear violation of Article 22 of the CIO Act on political neutrality for the Deputy Chief of the CIO, who is investigating an opposition party's presidential candidate, to have a phone call and even arrange a meeting with a key figure from the ruling party's presidential candidate's campaign. The fact that they discussed and arranged a meeting suggests that they may have directed or discussed investigation strategies that could harm the opposition candidate. If such content was part of the phone call, it could be considered a violation of Article 65 of the National Public Service Act."

Furthermore, Lee stated, "While investigation discretion lies with the investigative agency, if the Deputy Chief discussed investigation-related matters with a person affiliated with a major presidential candidate's campaign and reflected this in the investigation, it clearly constitutes an abuse of discretion and can be seen as using his position to conduct electioneering, which violates the Public Official Election Act. Additionally, if Representative Park made an improper request related to the investigation, it would violate Article 5 of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act."

Lee criticized, "It is an unimaginably serious breach of political neutrality and an unconstitutional act undermining election fairness for a key figure in the ruling party's presidential candidate's campaign to have a phone call and arrange a meeting with the Deputy Chief of the CIO who is investigating the opposition presidential candidate."

He added, "Even a simple courtesy call is highly inappropriate during such a sensitive period, and if they arranged a meal appointment beyond just a phone call, it is reasonable to suspect that they have been in frequent contact and meetings before. If the discussions were unrelated to the investigation, there would be no need to arrange a separate meeting. Therefore, there is a strong possibility that the two discussed investigation-related matters, and a thorough investigation is required."

Meanwhile, as the controversy grew, Son Jun-sung, former Policy Officer for Investigation Information at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and a key suspect in the 'accusation manipulation' case, filed a petition with Kim Jin-wook, head of the CIO, requesting that Deputy Chief Yeo, who was found to have improper contact with ruling party figures, be excluded from the investigation.

At the time, Son's legal representative stated, "Deputy Chief Yeo was found to have contacted the ruling party's presidential candidate's campaign spokesperson during the ongoing investigation. Despite previous controversies over collusion with the ruling party during the arrest warrant request process, it is impossible to expect a fair investigation from Deputy Chief Yeo, who engaged in such inappropriate contact."

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