Daegum, Investigation Report Disclosure Possible... New Phase in 'Lee Seong-yoon Indictment Leak' Case

Lee Seong-yoon, the chief prosecutor of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, who was indicted on charges of exerting external pressure in the investigation of the illegal travel ban case involving former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui, is attending a trial held on the 20th at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The suspicion of the indictment leak involving Lee Seong-yoon, the Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, is likely to enter a new phase this week. The key lies with the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. It is reported that the Supreme Prosecutors' Office is deliberating whether to disclose the fact-finding investigation report requested by the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office and others. Revealing the contents of the report would confirm the substance of the recently amplified suspicions, making the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's decision very important.

According to the legal community on the 12th, the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office sent an official letter to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Inspection Department on the 9th, requesting the disclosure of the fact-finding investigation regarding the indictment leak suspicion. Shin Sung-sik, the Suwon District Prosecutor known for his pro-government stance, also approved this letter. Prosecutors from the former Suwon District Prosecutors' investigation team, who investigated and indicted the Chief Prosecutor Lee, also requested Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo to disclose the Inspection Department's findings on the indictment leaker, and on the 9th, they filed an information disclosure request.

The purpose of the request is to "clear their innocence." The former Suwon District Prosecutors' investigation team prosecutors are under investigation by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) on suspicion of leaking the indictment while indicting the Chief Prosecutor Lee. The prosecutors deny all charges. They asked for official confirmation through the fact-finding investigation report to prove their innocence and to be allowed to focus on their current duties.

Meanwhile, there have been reports that the indictment was leaked by Prosecutor A, a close aide of the Chief Prosecutor Lee, which strengthened the former Suwon District Prosecutors' investigation team's request. On the 9th, the Chosun Ilbo reported that Prosecutor A, a close aide of the Chief Prosecutor Lee, accessed the prosecution's internal network, copied the indictment, edited it into a Word file, and stored it. After the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Inspection Department confirmed this, they did not escalate it to a formal inspection. The media also reported that a Word file containing the indictment was found on the PC of Prosecutor B, who worked with the Chief Prosecutor Lee, but it was omitted from the Ministry of Justice's interim report under the direction of Inspection Department Head Han Dong-soo.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office Inspection Department and Head Han denied all these claims. Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye, who received the report, also said, "There is no major problem," and did not escalate the suspicions. However, this report made it inevitable for the CIO to change its investigation direction. Until now, the CIO had been targeting the Suwon District Prosecutors' investigation team, but it now appears that the scope will have to be expanded to include Prosecutor A, Prosecutor B, and others. There is also a possibility that demands for investigations into Prosecutor A and Prosecutor B will surge within the prosecution.

Attention is focused on whether the CIO will take further steps such as raids on the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Inspection Department's fact-finding investigation report. The CIO has raided the Supreme Prosecutors' Office four times but is known not to have raided the Inspection Department's fact-finding investigation report. When the CIO raided the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Information and Communications Department on the 26th of last month, in response to the former Suwon District Prosecutors' investigation team's question, "Did you secure the Supreme Prosecutors' Office inspection materials?" they only replied, "We requested but did not receive them." This has led some within the prosecution to suspect that the CIO may have deliberately bypassed the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Inspection Department as a target of investigation.

Ultimately, the indictment leak suspicion is evolving into a 'truth game' involving the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Inspection Department, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, the CIO, and the Ministry of Justice. If the Supreme Prosecutors' Office discloses the fact-finding investigation report, the truth is expected to be immediately confirmed. The legal community's attention is expected to focus even more on the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

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