Prosecutors Request Reinvestigation of 'Kim Hye-kyung Suspicion' Four Days Before Trial... Must Avoid Actions That Raise Doubt

Regarding the prosecution's recent request to the police to reinvestigate the 'Kim Hye-kyung personal secretary hiring suspicion,' the court reprimanded the prosecution, saying, "It feels as if the prosecution is trying to prevent evidence favorable to the defendant from being submitted in court," and added, "There should be no room for misunderstanding."

Key figure Bae Mo in the 'corporate card misuse suspicion' involving Kim Hye-kyung, spouse of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea
Photo by Yonhap News

The Criminal Division 12 of Suwon District Court (Presiding Judge Hwang In-seong) held a trial on the Public Official Election Act charges against Bae Mo, a former special-position public official at Gyeonggi Provincial Government, who is involved in the personal secretary suspicion of Kim Hye-kyung, spouse of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, on the 6th.

At the trial, the judge stated, "In the previous trial (March 20), the defense attorney applied for a document submission request regarding the police's non-prosecution reason statement for some of the defendant's charges, and when a fact inquiry (request for document submission) was sent to the Southern Gyeonggi Police Agency, they replied, 'We cannot provide it because the prosecutor requested a reinvestigation.' The court had accepted the defense's document submission request and announced in this courtroom that a fact inquiry would be sent, and the prosecutor heard this, but a few days later, the reinvestigation was requested, seemingly to prevent this from being submitted, isn't that so?"

The defense for Bae submitted the non-prosecution decision and its reason statement from the police investigation stage regarding some false information publication charges as evidence, and requested the court to obtain the materials on their behalf, stating, "The police are not providing the non-prosecution reason statement for Bae's charges such as embezzlement of public funds, citing that 'the prosecutor has kept it confidential.'"

The judge said, "Isn't it unnecessary for the prosecutor to be suspected of obstructing evidence just because it is favorable to the defendant? It could have happened coincidentally, but please ensure that this document is submitted. Otherwise, I will consider methods for compulsory acquisition."

In response, the prosecutor explained, "The reinvestigation request was not made to prevent document review. Since the investigation records exceed 52 volumes and are extensive, it took an absolute amount of time to review them, and the reinvestigation deadline (within 90 days, which expired on the 28th of last month) was approaching, so the request was made."

Last month on the 24th, the prosecution requested the police to reinvestigate Bae's embezzlement charges as well as the overall 'Kim Hye-kyung personal secretary hiring' suspicion. This suspicion involves Bae assisting Kim's private affairs while working at the provincial government office for about three years from July 2018 to September 2021, during Lee's tenure as governor of Gyeonggi Province.

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