Prosecutors Summon Kwon Oh-soo... Investigate Kim Gun-hee's Involvement in Stock Price Manipulation

The prosecution summoned former Deutsche Motors Chairman Kwon Oh-soo for questioning regarding suspicions of stock price manipulation involving First Lady Kim Keon-hee, wife of President Yoon Seok-yeol.

Kwon Oh-soo, former chairman of Deutsch Motors
[Photo by Yonhap News]

According to the legal community on the 24th, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-chul) summoned former Chairman Kwon, the main perpetrator of the stock price manipulation case, as a witness for questioning the previous day. It is known that the prosecution sought to confirm whether Mrs. Kim was aware of the stock price manipulation.

This is the first time the prosecution has questioned former Chairman Kwon since the first trial verdict for Deutsche Motors was handed down on February 10. Kwon was indicted on charges of conspiring with 'stock price manipulation players' from December 2009 for three years, using 157 accounts from 91 people to artificially inflate Deutsche Motors' stock price through abnormal transactions. He was sentenced to two years in prison with a three-year probation and fined 300 million won.

The case began after the Open Democratic Party filed a complaint in April 2020, suspecting Mrs. Kim as the 'jeonju' (financier) who provided funds during the stock price manipulation process. Although the prosecution indicted Kwon and his associates in December 2021, Mrs. Kim was excluded from the indictment as the investigation was ongoing. Suspicions involving Mrs. Kim were reignited when the first trial court acknowledged that some of her accounts were used in the stock price manipulation.

The court, in its first trial verdict for Kwon, recognized three of Mrs. Kim's accounts and one account belonging to her mother, Choi Eun-soon, as borrowed or entrusted accounts used in the guilty acts of market manipulation.

This summons appears to be related to the recent political atmosphere surrounding the push for a 'Kim Keon-hee Special Prosecutor Act.' Voices demanding swift investigation have grown stronger, especially among opposition parties, stating, "Since the court acknowledged Mrs. Kim's involvement, a prompt investigation is necessary." On the same day, Park Hong-geun, the floor leader of the Democratic Party, announced plans to designate the Kim Keon-hee Special Prosecutor Act as a fast-track bill in the National Assembly plenary session on the 27th.

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