Prosecutors Decide Not to Indict Former NIS Director Park Ji-won for False Statements in 'Yoon Woo-jin Case'

Refusal to File Charges by Corruption Investigation Office... 'Tip-off Manipulation Allegation' Also Cleared

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] The prosecution has decided not to indict former National Intelligence Service Director Park Ji-won, who was accused of spreading false information related to President Yoon Seok-yeol during the last presidential election.

The Public Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Hee-dong) on the 8th decided to dismiss charges against former Director Park in the case requested for prosecution by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act and defamation.

After the so-called 'tip-off manipulation suspicion' surfaced in September last year, former Director Park denied it in media interviews and made statements implying that "Yoon Seok-yeol exerted influence on the Yoon Woo-jin case and possesses related materials."

The 'Yoon Woo-jin case' mentioned by former Director Park involves allegations that Yoon Woo-jin, former head of the Yongsan Tax Office, received money and other valuables from a meat trader in exchange for helping to halt a tax investigation while in office from 2010 to 2011. Yoon fled overseas to evade police investigation in 2012 but was arrested in Thailand and forcibly repatriated. Subsequently, the prosecution that took over the case in 2015 cleared Yoon of charges.

Because Yoon Woo-jin is the brother of Yoon Dae-jin, former Planning Director of the Judicial Research and Training Institute and a close aide to President Yoon, suspicions arose that President Yoon was involved in halting the prosecution investigation during 2012-2013.

The CIO, which investigated the case, viewed former Director Park's statements about the 'Yoon Woo-jin case' as spreading false information with the intent to influence the presidential primary process, applying charges of false statement publication and defamation under the Public Official Election Act and requested prosecution by the prosecution. The CIO has investigative authority over high-ranking official crimes but does not have prosecutorial authority.

However, the prosecution judged that it was difficult to definitively classify former Director Park's statements as false information intended to interfere with the election and decided to dismiss the charges.

The prosecution also decided not to indict former Director Park, Cho Sung-eun, and three unidentified individuals regarding the 'tip-off manipulation suspicion,' which the CIO had previously dismissed as groundless.

Earlier, the CIO had dismissed charges related to suspicions that former Director Park was involved in the process of Cho's tip-off in the 'accusation manipulation case,' citing lack of evidence to prove the allegations.

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