Im Jong-seok, Cho Kuk, Park Hyung-cheol... Prosecution Targets Ruling Party Figures

Central District Prosecutors' Office Transfers Former Presidential Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok's Residence Case to Eastern District Prosecutors' Office
Prosecutors: "Considering Supreme Court Final Ruling on Ministry of Environment Blacklist"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] As the prosecution speeds up its investigation into the ‘Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Blacklist’ case, there are expectations that large-scale investigations into key ruling party figures such as former Presidential Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok and former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk will follow.

According to the legal community on the 29th, the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office’s Corporate and Labor Crime Division (Chief Prosecutor Choi Hyung-won) conducted raids yesterday by sending prosecutors and investigators to the headquarters of four Korean power generation companies?Korea South-East Power, Korea South Power, Korea Western Power, and Korea Midland Power?as well as four public institutions under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy related to overseas resource development: Korea Trade Insurance Corporation, Korea Energy Agency, Korea Resources Corporation, and Korea District Heating Corporation. This came three days after the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy was raided on the 25th.

Previously, the Liberty Korea Party, the predecessor of the People Power Party, filed a complaint with the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office in 2019 against former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Baek Woon-gyu and three others on charges of abuse of authority. However, at that time, the prosecution only investigated the four power company presidents as witnesses and showed no further action. In this raid, the prosecution is expected to focus on obtaining evidence to verify the authenticity of testimonies regarding resignation pressure that had been secured earlier.

Since the Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office is basing its actions on the ruling in the Ministry of Environment Blacklist case, similar cases are expected to be investigated sequentially in the future.

Blue House Special Inspection Team, Numerous Complaints of 'Public Institution Blacklists' under the Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Unification, and Ministry of Education

Currently, the Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office has received cases including ▲the Blue House Special Inspection Team’s blacklist of 330 public institutions ▲the blacklist of public institutions under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy ▲and blacklists of public institutions under the Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Science and ICT, Ministry of Unification, and Ministry of Education.

The accused in these cases include former Presidential Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok, former Blue House Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Cho Kuk, former Blue House Anti-Corruption Secretary Park Hyung-chul, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki.

The Liberty Korea Party filed the first complaint in December 2018 regarding the ‘Blue House Special Inspection Team’s civilian surveillance case’ with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, but the prosecution explained that the case was transferred to the Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office because former Chief of Staff Im’s residence was in Songpa.

A People Power Party official stated, "This is a blacklist case that was carried out across all ministries including the Blue House," and added, "Now that the administration has changed, the investigation must be normalized."

However, the prosecution is cautious about overinterpretation. The Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office stated, "This is an investigation into similar cases following the Supreme Court’s final ruling on the Ministry of Environment Blacklist case in January," and added, "We will conduct the investigation according to law and principles."

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