Seong-yoon Lee and Eun-jung Park's 'Yoon Ousting Inspection Allegation' Investigated by the Corruption Investigation Office

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Lee Seong-yoon, former chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (currently a research fellow at the Legal Research and Training Institute), and Park Eun-jung, former inspection officer of the Ministry of Justice (currently head prosecutor of the Major Economic Crime Investigation Division at Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office), who are suspected of 'attempting to oust Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol through inspection,' will be investigated by the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (HCIO).

The Criminal Division 5 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Choi Woo-young) announced on the 3rd that after investigating them, they found charges of abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of rights, and transferred part of the case to the HCIO. This is a measure in accordance with Article 25, Paragraph 2 of the HCIO Act, which stipulates that if the prosecution or other investigative agencies discover crimes committed by high-ranking officials, the case must be transferred to the HCIO.

Former Seoul Central District Prosecutor Lee Seong-yoon [Image source=Yonhap News]

Lee, the former chief prosecutor, and Park, the former inspection officer, are accused of providing Ministry of Justice and Supreme Prosecutors' Office materials, obtained under the pretext of inspecting Han Dong-hoon, then chief prosecutor (now Minister of Justice), related to the 'Channel A case' in October 2020 during the tenure of Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae, to the Ministry of Justice Inspection Committee without authorization.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office received a complaint against Lee and Park in December 2020 and investigated, but dismissed the case in July 2021. However, the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office ordered a reinvestigation in June last year, restarting the investigation. The prosecution has also been investigating a case in which Park was accused of instructing a subordinate prosecutor to modify or delete a draft report stating that "it is difficult to hold Prosecutor General Yoon accountable."

The prosecution decided to continue investigating the charges against them for violating the Personal Information Protection Act and the Communications Privacy Protection Act, as these do not fall under high-ranking officials' crimes according to the HCIO Act.

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