The Corruption Investigation Office's PT on Son Junsung's indictment amendment fails in the 'Gobal Saju' trial... Rescheduled for the 19th of next month

On the 24th of last month, Son Jun-sung, head of the Litigation Department at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, who was indicted on suspicion of 'prosecution request for accusation,' is attending a trial held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] In the so-called 'report solicitation' suspicion case trial, the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Department (HOCI) attempted to make a presentation (PT) regarding the indictment amendment of Son Jun-sung, Head of the Litigation Department at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office (prosecuted without detention), but it was canceled due to opposition from the defense counsel.

At the second trial session held on the morning of the 7th, presided over by Criminal Division 27 of the Seoul Central District Court (Chief Judge Kim Ok-gon), the HOCI prosecutor requested the court to allow them to present the PT materials prepared concerning the indictment amendment they applied for on the 26th of last month when asked about the contents of the indictment amendment.

Originally, the witness examination of Shim In-bo, a Newstapa reporter, was scheduled for that morning, but since Shim did not appear in court, the court suggested proceeding with other procedures first, and the indictment amendment requested by HOCI became a point of contention.

Regarding the HOCI's PT demonstration, Son's defense counsel said, "Since we have entered the full-scale evidence investigation procedure, I don't think it's the right time to do a PT," adding, "We should proceed with the evidence investigation procedure now, and if an explanation about the indictment amendment permission is necessary, it can be submitted in writing."

The presiding judge asked the HOCI prosecutor, "Can you show the PT materials in advance?" and requested that they be submitted to the court and the defense counsel, to which HOCI delivered the PT materials accordingly.

The prosecutor explained the PT materials, saying, "The description of the charges," and "The first part of the PT summarizes only within the scope of the charges to be amended, followed by the purpose of the amendment, and additional actual and legal issues."

However, the defense counsel pointed out, "It's difficult to comment without fully understanding the PT prepared by HOCI," and added, "Then the defense should also be given the opportunity to do a PT in the same time and space. This contains too many contents that could cause prejudice."

Another defense counsel for Son said, "They should only disclose the contents of the indictment amendment application, but the PT already contains all of HOCI's opinions," and "This should be expressed when sentencing later, and even now, it's unclear what parts have changed."

In response, the prosecutor stated, "The charges must necessarily describe facts proven by evidence, and the amended charges are also charges to be proven by evidence in the future," adding, "If the court permits, we have no choice but to read it aloud, but since the indictment is 20 pages long and extensive, we prepared the PT to help overall understanding."

The defense counsel countered, "This seems not only to explain the indictment amendment but the entire indictment, so if so, permission should have been sought from the court at the previous session and the defense given a chance to present opinions."

The presiding judge proposed, "How about HOCI doing the PT first today and the defense doing it at the next session?" but the defense did not accept.

The defense counsel said, "If this was necessary, it would have been acceptable if done at the first trial session after finishing all preparatory hearings," and added, "This is not just explaining the part that changed with the amendment application but seems to intend to explain the entire charges again. Since the evidence investigation procedure has already started, doing this just because a witness did not appear and there is spare time is unreasonable."

The prosecutor insisted again, "What we requested is naturally to read the amended charges according to the Criminal Procedure Rules."

However, the presiding judge said, "That is naturally required, but it seems the defense is concerned about whether there is anything beyond the amended content and that this was unannounced and inappropriate," adding, "If the defense does not accept, it seems inappropriate to do it today. If absolutely necessary, it should be done at the next session."

He continued, "Then, until the scheduled session, let's conduct the witness examination, and after completing the confirmed witness examination, we can schedule a morning session to give both parties the opportunity for PT."

Then, the presiding judge decided to allocate one hour each for PT to HOCI and the defense on the morning of the 19th of next month and decide whether to approve the indictment amendment application.

According to HOCI, when applying for the indictment amendment on the 26th of last month, they added content about the background and motive leading Son to commit the crime in the 'basic facts' section of the charges.

In April 2020, following the 'media collusion' suspicion related follow-up reports, the involvement of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Investigation Information Policy Office was mentioned, and then Minister of Justice at the time, Choo Mi-ae, ordered a fact-finding investigation. As the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Inspection Department's inspection was imminent, Son became a target of attacks by the media and pro-government figures, suspected of involvement in the 'media collusion' case, and faced the risk of inspection and investigation. This is the background or motive for the crime added by HOCI.

Also, regarding Son's charge of leaking official secrets, HOCI pointed out that according to the security guidelines of the Investigation Information Policy Office, employees, transferees, and retirees of the office acknowledge that investigation information and matters learned during collection, analysis, and management are official secrets and have an obligation not to disclose or leak such information obtained during work.

HOCI also presented several additional attached materials related to the charge of leaking official secrets.

On that day, HOCI and the defense also clashed over the issue of additional witness adoption.

In particular, the defense expressed dissatisfaction, pointing out that most of the witnesses requested by HOCI had been investigated by the prosecution in connection with the 'media collusion' case or were related to it.

The presiding judge also asked the prosecutor about the purpose of the witness request for former Channel A reporter Lee Dong-jae, stating, "'Whether there was media collusion or not is not the subject of our trial.'

The 'report solicitation' suspicion concerns the allegation that Son, when he was the head of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Investigation Information Policy Office in April 2020, instructed prosecutors in the office to draft complaints against pro-government figures such as Representative Choi Kang-wook of the Democratic Party of Korea, former Supreme Council member Hwang Hee-seok, and former director of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation Yoo Si-min, and then delivered the drafted complaints to Representative Kim Woong of the People Power Party, thereby soliciting reports.

In May, HOCI concluded the investigation into the 'report solicitation' suspicion and indicted Son on four charges: violation of the Public Official Election Act, leaking official secrets, violation of the Personal Information Protection Act, and violation of the Criminal Procedure Electronicization Act, while dismissing the abuse of power charge.

Also, the abuse of power and leaking official secrets charges against Representative Kim, who was a civilian at the time, were dismissed, and other charges not subject to HOCI's prosecution or investigation, including the Public Official Election Act violation in conspiracy with Son, were referred to the prosecution.

Regarding three prosecutors, including President Yoon Seok-youl, Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon, and Representative Jeong Jeom-sik of the People Power Party, who were also booked along with Son, the charges were dismissed, while the abuse of power charge against Mrs. Kim Geon-hee was dismissed, and other charges were referred to the prosecution.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Public Investigation Division 1 (Chief Prosecutor Lee Hee-dong), which investigated the cases referred by HOCI, dismissed the Public Official Election Act violation cases against Representative Kim and Mrs. Kim in September.

The civic group 'Action Alliance for Judicial Justice' that reported the 'report solicitation' case to HOCI filed a re-investigation request with the court against HOCI's dismissal of charges against President Yoon and Minister Han, but the Criminal Division 30 of the Seoul High Court (Chief Judge Bae Gwang-guk) dismissed it on the 4th.

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