Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Deploys Special Investigation Unit at the Forefront... 'North Korea Remittance' Investigation Enters New Phase

The rejection of the arrest warrant for Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is increasingly likely to accelerate the investigation into the Ssangbangwool Group’s ‘North Korea remittance’ case, which had been stagnant.

According to the legal community on the 5th, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office is considering returning the North Korea remittance case, which was transferred from the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office, if Lee’s arrest warrant is requested. The cases subject to the warrant request include three issues: Baekhyeon-dong development favoritism, North Korea remittance, and perjury coaching. Inside and outside the prosecution, it is widely known that the most efficient measure would be to separate the perjury coaching charge, which was recognized during the warrant review process, and proceed with a non-custodial indictment first, while the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office and the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office each take back the Baekhyeon-dong and North Korea remittance cases for supplementary investigation. A prosecution official said, “We are reviewing all possibilities with an open mind.”

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the detention hearing (warrant review) held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu on the 26th of last month. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

In this regard, attention is drawn to the fact that the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office’s command line, which handled this case, was completely replaced by ‘specialized prosecutors’ in the recent personnel reshuffle. Accordingly, if the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office takes back the case, it is expected to conduct a rigorous reinvestigation.

In the regular personnel reshuffle of the prosecution conducted last month, Shin Bong-su was appointed as the head of the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office, Lee Jeong-seop as the deputy chief overseeing the Criminal Division 6, which handled the North Korea remittance case, and Seo Hyun-wook as the chief prosecutor of Criminal Division 6. All are renowned ‘specialized prosecutors’ in the prosecution with experience handling major cases and achieving results. On the 7th of last month, Chief Prosecutor Shin stated upon his appointment, “Strictly respond to judicial obstruction crimes that hinder, delay, and neutralize criminal justice procedures.” This was a direct targeting of Lee, who is suspected of shaking testimonies from key figures in the North Korea remittance case and removing evidence. It is interpreted as a declaration of a strong will to investigate the suspicions involving Lee.

If the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office takes over the North Korea remittance case, it is expected to conduct supplementary investigations while monitoring the trial progress of former Gyeonggi Province Peace Deputy Governor Lee Hwa-young. The Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office is also expected to conclude the ‘lawyer fee payment’ suspicion that triggered the North Korea remittance case. This suspicion involves allegations that Ssangbangwool Group paid 2.3 billion KRW in legal fees for lawyer Lee Tae-hyung, who participated in Lee’s public election law violation trial. The previous investigation team was unable to find a lead on this suspicion, but the new command is likely to find a breakthrough. Obtaining key testimony from Kim Seong-tae, chairman of Ssangbangwool Group, is crucial. Additionally, the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office plans to investigate Ssangbangwool’s ‘Lee Jae-myung split donation’ suspicion.

Meanwhile, Lee is expected to appear as a defendant at the first trial of the Daejang-dong and Wirye development corruption case on the 6th. Lee submitted a request to the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 33 (Presiding Judge Kim Dong-hyun), which is hearing the trial, to change the trial date the day before, but the court did not approve it. Earlier, Lee had conducted a 24-day hunger strike starting August 31. As a result, the court postponed the first trial, originally scheduled for the 15th of last month, to the 6th.

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