Prosecutors Say "No Deal with Ewhayeong" Denial "Not Worth Mentioning"

The prosecution dismissed the claim by A, the wife of former Peace Vice Governor Ihwa-young, who alleged that there was a "deal between Ihwa-young and the prosecution," saying it was "not even worth mentioning."

On the 31st, the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office issued a statement saying, "The prosecution investigates charges and proceeds with trials strictly based on evidence and legal principles. The so-called 'coercion' claims against former Vice Governor Ihwa-young, who has over 30 years of political experience as a Democratic Party lawmaker aide, lawmaker, Gyeonggi Province Vice Governor, and KINTEX president, are not even worth mentioning."

Former Gyeonggi Province Deputy Governor for Peace Lee Hwa-young [Image source=Yonhap News]

It added, "Since the indictment, the prosecution has been doing its best to prove the charges in a total of 41 court sessions over about 10 months, and there has been absolutely no 'coercion or forced testimony' as claimed by the former vice governor's spouse during the investigation and trial process."

Regarding the bribery and Political Funds Act charges against the former vice governor, the prosecution explained, "The total amount of 259.3 million KRW received in relation to official duties is charged as bribery, and the total amount of 335.3 million KRW received related to personal political activities is charged as a violation of the Political Funds Act."

Earlier, A publicly released a handwritten statement through a media outlet on the same day. In the statement, she said, "Before it gets any later, I reveal that there was a deal between Ihwa-young and the prosecution," and claimed, "The prosecution has been continuously coercing and threatening Ihwa-young by exploiting his careless use of the corporate card during his public service, promising that Chairman Kim Seong-tae of Ssangbangwool would give favorable testimony to reduce his sentence and allow him to be released without detention by the end of October."

She also wrote, "As the price of that deal, he was told to give false testimony regarding Representative Lee Jae-myung's North Korea and bribery case," and "The lawyer accepted that and made it seem as if it was Ihwa-young's intention."

She continued, "He really seems to believe in this deal. When my older sisters and brother-in-law visited him, he even said, 'I might be out by Chuseok,'" and added, "It was this sweet temptation that led him to be dragged by the prosecution."

Since the 18th, after it was revealed in court that the former vice governor testified to the prosecution that he "requested Ssangbangwool to promote the Gyeonggi Province governor's visit to North Korea," A has issued three petitions or statements up to this day, claiming that "her husband was forced to give false testimony."

The suspicion of Ssangbangwool Group's remittance to North Korea involves former Ssangbangwool Group Chairman Kim Seong-tae allegedly handing over 5 million USD for North Korea's smart farm project and 3 million USD for the then-Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung's visit to North Korea to North Korean officials on behalf of Gyeonggi Province in 2019. Kim claims he promoted the remittance to North Korea in consultation with the former vice governor.

Since the allegations surfaced, the former vice governor has consistently denied any connection between Gyeonggi Province and Ssangbangwool. However, in recent prosecution investigations, he changed his position somewhat, testifying that he "asked Ssangbangwool to promote the visit to North Korea once" and "reported it to Representative Lee Jae-myung, who was then governor."

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