Seoul Police "'Sexual Bribery Cover-up Allegation' Lee Jun-seok 2nd Investigation... To Conclude Soon"

Former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok is attending the hearing for the suspension of the People Power Party's party rules at the Seoul Southern District Court in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, on the 28th of last month. Photo by National Assembly Press Corps

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The police have completed their investigation into former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok, who is suspected of covering up sexual bribery, and plan to conclude the investigation soon.

A Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency official said at a press conference on the 11th, "We summoned former leader Lee for questioning on the 8th," adding, "It is difficult to specify the exact time of conclusion, but we will finish promptly." This is the second time the police have summoned Lee, following the first investigation on the 17th of last month regarding the sexual bribery allegations. After the first investigation, the police decided not to prosecute Lee on the grounds of lack of prosecutorial jurisdiction concerning the sexual bribery allegations.

During this second investigation, the police reportedly focused on questioning Lee about charges of evidence tampering and false accusation. A Seoul police official said, "The questioning lasted for a long time past midnight," and added, "Further investigation is unlikely to be necessary." However, the police did not conduct a confrontation investigation with Jang, who raised the sexual bribery cover-up allegations. Jang is the person who alleged that Lee had Kim Cheol-geun, former chief of staff to the party leader, obtain a written confirmation from an iKist employee stating that there was no sexual bribery in exchange for a '7 billion won investment memorandum.'

Previously, the police investigated Kim, the former chief of staff, and Jang, who was responsible for protocol for Kim Sung-jin, CEO of iKist. Jang reportedly testified that he wrote a false confirmation stating there was no sexual bribery for Kim. On the other hand, Kim stated during a witness investigation that the investment memorandum was written without any compensation. So far, the police have registered three people, including former leader Lee and former chief of staff Kim, and have been conducting investigations.

Regarding the so-called 'Second n번방 (Nth Room)' investigation, a Seoul police official said, "It is progressing well," adding, "We have arrested 18 people on charges of viewing or distributing sexually exploitative materials or disclosing personal information, and three of them have been detained." However, there has been no news of the arrest of the main suspect, 'L.' The official said, "To prevent secondary damage, we are dividing roles and continuing the investigation."

The Seoul police official also addressed the case related to the 'President Yoon Suk-yeol profanity controversy,' stating, "We have received 14 complaints and are verifying the facts," and added, "We will proceed with the investigation according to procedures." The official said that complaints with similar content filed with the prosecution will be merged and investigated by the police in the future. Additionally, regarding the stalking accusation case against Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon, the official explained, "The victim investigation for the initial complainant, the executive secretary, has been conducted, and the rest of the schedule is being coordinated."

Regarding the incident around 5:30 a.m. near a neighborhood park road in Jamwon-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, where a man in his 50s attempted suicide with a handgun, the official said, "The person is undergoing surgery, and the circumstances of the firearm's leakage need to be confirmed." The Seoul police official added, "There is also a claim that the firearm belonged to the deceased father of the person, who was a former soldier, which needs to be verified," and added, "The firearm is an old model and is not one possessed by the police."

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