Today National Assembly Audit of Central District Prosecutors' Office and Suwon District Prosecutors' Office... Investigations Related to Moon Government and Lee Jae-myung as Key Issues

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] On the 18th, the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee will conduct a government audit of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, and others. Attention is focused as the ruling and opposition parties are expected to strongly clash over major recent prosecution investigations.

On this day, the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee will carry out the government audit targeting the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, and the Eastern, Western, Northern, and Southern District Prosecutors' Offices. They will also examine the Suwon High Prosecutors' Office, Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office, Incheon District Prosecutors' Office, Chuncheon District Prosecutors' Office, as well as various branch offices.

In particular, cases involving the previous administration are expected to be brought to the forefront. Representative cases include the West Sea government official killing incident and the forced repatriation of North Korean fishermen, both under investigation by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office. These cases have recently accelerated as higher-level figures have been summoned for questioning. The Public Investigation Division 1 (Chief Prosecutor Lee Hee-dong) of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, investigating the West Sea government official killing incident, summoned former Minister of National Defense Seo Wook for questioning on the 13th. The Public Investigation Division 3 (Chief Prosecutor Lee Jun-beom), investigating the forced repatriation of North Korean fishermen, is coordinating a summons schedule for former Presidential Chief of Staff Noh Young-min. An attempt to summon him on the 16th failed. Earlier, on the 20th and 21st of last month, the investigation team summoned former Minister of Unification Kim Yeon-chul for questioning. There are also expectations that the two investigation teams will soon summon and question figures who were part of the previous administration's security line, including former National Intelligence Service Director Park Ji-won and former Blue House National Security Office Chiefs Seo Hoon and Chung Eui-yong.

Investigations into allegations involving Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, will also be a topic of confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties. The Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 3 (Chief Prosecutor Kang Baek-shin) and Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 (Chief Prosecutor Eom Hee-jun) of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office are respectively handling the Daejang-dong urban development project preferential treatment and lobbying allegations, and the Wirye New Town development project bribery allegations. Notably, the prosecution indicted former Seongnam Urban Development Corporation Planning Director Yoo Dong-gyu on bribery charges related to the Wirye New Town development project, mentioning Lee Jae-myung's name 18 times in the indictment.

Earlier, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office referred Lee to trial on charges of making false statements (violation of the Public Official Election Act) regarding the late Kim Moon-gi, former Seongnam Urban Development Corporation Development Division 1 Director, related to the Daejang-dong development project during the presidential election. This is also expected to draw criticism from the opposition party. Questions may also arise regarding the relatively under-investigated Deutsche Motors stock manipulation allegations. This case has attracted attention as it involves Kim Geon-hee, spouse of President Yoon Seok-youl.

The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office is also a main focus of the government audit on this day. The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office is investigating suspicious fund flows of the Ssangbangwool Group and allegations related to the Asia-Pacific Peace Exchange Association's support for North Korea. In connection with this, on the 14th, former Gyeonggi Province Peace Deputy Governor Lee Hwa-young, known as a close aide to Lee Jae-myung, was arrested and indicted. Attention is also focused on the Seongnam branch office investigating the Seongnam FC sponsorship fund allegations. The Criminal Division 3 (Chief Prosecutor Yoo Min-jong) of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Seongnam branch has recently devoted all efforts to securing materials related to the allegations. Since the 16th of last month, they have conducted three rounds of raids at 37 locations over 20 days. Currently, they are analyzing the secured materials and are reportedly considering summoning related individuals for questioning.

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