Prosecutors Summon Former Woori Bank Vice President in 'Park Young-soo 5 Billion Club' Case

The prosecution investigating former Special Prosecutor Park Young-soo's 'Daejang-dong 5 Billion Club' allegations has summoned a former vice president of Woori Bank, identified as a key figure related to the issuance of the letter of intent for credit.

Special Prosecutor Park Young-soo

According to the legal community on the 31st, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Eom Hee-jun) summoned Kim Jong-won, former CEO of Woori Credit Information, as a witness for questioning.

The prosecution reportedly questioned former CEO Kim about the specific circumstances under which Woori Bank submitted a 150 billion KRW letter of intent for credit to the Seongnam-e Deul consortium and whether former Special Prosecutor Park exerted influence during this process. Kim was the head of the Real Estate Finance Business Division (executive vice president) responsible for the letter of intent for credit in 2014, when Park served as the chairman of Woori Bank's outside board of directors.

Initially, Woori Bank considered participating in the Seongnam-e Deul consortium but ultimately decided not to join in March 2015, citing opposition from the screening department. Instead, the bank issued a 150 billion KRW letter of intent for credit, expressing willingness to participate in project financing (PF) loans. During recent investigations of employees involved in PF operations at Woori Bank, the prosecution reportedly obtained statements indicating that former CEO Kim said, "I will take responsibility," leading to the issuance of the letter of intent.

The prosecution suspects that the close relationship between former CEO Kim, who oversaw the relevant operations, and former Special Prosecutor Park played a role in Woori Bank issuing the letter of intent. Kim is known to have had a close relationship with Park, attending the opening ceremony of Park's election campaign office at the end of 2014 when Park ran for president of the Korean Bar Association.

Park's side issued a statement rebutting the claims, saying, "Kim and I only overlapped for a very short period during our tenures," and argued, "It is unreasonable to claim that Park, who was a non-executive outside director attending meetings about once or twice a month, could have had a close relationship with Kim."

They also stated that about 400 people attended the election campaign office opening ceremony, adding, "Park was only able to exchange brief greetings like a host at a wedding, making it difficult to remember attendees, and even if attendance is assumed, it cannot be considered evidence that Kim helped the election."

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