Son Junsung and Kim Woong Indicted for 'Abuse of Authority'?… Corruption Investigation Office to Announce 'Gobal Saju' Case Investigation Results Today

From the left, Prosecutor Son Joon-sung, People Power Party lawmaker Kim Woong. / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@, Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency (HCIA) will announce the investigation results of the 'accusation solicitation' allegation case on the 4th.

This comes eight months after HCIA began its investigation following Newsbus's report in early September last year, and 15 days after the HCIA Prosecution Deliberation Committee recommended non-prosecution of the involved parties on the 19th of last month.

HCIA will announce the investigation results of this case at 10:30 a.m. at the HCIA 1st floor training hall in Building 5 of the Government Complex Gwacheon. The announcement is expected to be made by Deputy Director Yeo Woon-guk of HCIA.

The 'accusation solicitation' allegation concerns Prosecutor Son Joon-sung (currently Human Rights Protection Officer at Daegu High Prosecutors' Office), who, while serving as the Investigation Information Policy Officer at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in 2020, allegedly instructed subordinate prosecutors to draft accusations against pro-government figures such as Choi Kang-wook and Hwang Hee-seok, and delivered the accusation documents to Kim Woong, a member of the People Power Party, effectively soliciting accusations.

Newsbus raised suspicions that Prosecutor Son, who acted as the eyes and ears of the Prosecutor General, was involved, and since the victims listed in the drafted accusation documents included President-elect Yoon Seok-youl, his wife Kim Geon-hee, and Han Dong-hoon, the Minister of Justice nominee classified as a close aide to President-elect Yoon, it was suspected that President-elect Yoon and nominee Han were involved. In fact, HCIA has investigated President-elect Yoon and Prosecutor Han as suspects.

HCIA conducted searches and seizures on Prosecutor Son, prosecutors belonging to the Investigation Information Policy Office at the time, Representative Kim, and People Power Party officials, and from October last year, began summoning suspects and witnesses for investigation in earnest.

However, criticism arose that the investigation was 'excessive' after the arrest warrants requested for Prosecutor Son were rejected twice, and a court ruling declared HCIA's search and seizure of Representative Kim unlawful. In particular, HCIA came under pressure amid controversies over indiscriminate communication data inquiries involving journalists and ordinary citizens during the investigation process.

Earlier, HCIA Chief Kim Jin-wook expressed confidence in proving the charges, stating, "The essence of this case is abuse of authority," but many in the legal community believe that even if Prosecutor Son actually delivered the accusation documents to Representative Kim as whistleblower Jo Seong-eun claimed, it would be difficult to establish the crime of abuse of authority.

Article 123 of the Criminal Act defines abuse of authority as "when a public official abuses their authority to make a person perform an unnecessary act or obstruct a person's exercise of rights."

For abuse of authority to be established, there must be an illegal act concerning matters within the general scope of official duties, and it is difficult to regard the drafting of an accusation as a prosecutor's official duty.

The HCIA Prosecution Deliberation Committee, which met on the 19th of last month, also recommended non-prosecution for Prosecutor Son and Representative Kim.

Considering the progress of the investigation so far, it is expected to be difficult to indict President-elect Yoon or nominee Han. However, given the various controversies during the investigation, HCIA finds it challenging to dismiss all related parties without prosecution.

Therefore, it is highly likely that HCIA will at least indict Prosecutor Son and Representative Kim without detention on this day.

The question of interest is what charges HCIA will apply if it sends the two to trial.

HCIA has investigated Prosecutor Son on five charges including abuse of authority, official secret leakage, violation of the Public Official Election Act, and violation of the Criminal Procedure Electronicization Act, and Representative Kim on charges of conspiracy to abuse authority and violate the Public Official Election Act.

It is known that some of these charges received prosecution opinions from the Prosecution Deliberation Committee. Even if HCIA indicts the two today, if it fails to apply the abuse of authority charge, which Chief Kim previously called the 'essence' of this case, the investigation is likely to be regarded as a 'failed investigation.'

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