Prosecutors Refer Yoon Mi-hyang Case Alleging Coercion of Gil Won-ok Grandmother's Will to Western District Prosecutors' Office

On the 29th of last month, Yoon Mee-hyang, a Democratic Party of Korea elected member, held a press conference at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, to explain allegations of accounting fraud related to the Justice Memory Solidarity./Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The complaint filed by a civic group requesting an investigation into allegations of embezzlement and breach of trust involving government subsidies withdrawn from the bank account of comfort woman victim Gil Won-ok (92), as well as allegations that Gil was coerced into producing a video will, has been assigned to the Criminal Division 4 of the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Choi Ji-seok), which is currently investigating accounting omission suspicions related to Democratic Party lawmaker Yoon Mi-hyang and the Justice and Memory Foundation (Jeonguiyeon).

According to the prosecution on the 24th, the complaint case, which the Rule of Law Restoration Action Solidarity (Beopse-ryeon) submitted to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on the 18th, was transferred to the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office and assigned to the same Criminal Division 4.

This case will be investigated by Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee Mo of the Criminal Division 4 as the lead prosecutor.

The division had previously received and is investigating other cases transferred from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, in which civic groups such as Beopse-ryeon and Active Free Citizens requested investigations into allegations of donation embezzlement by lawmaker Yoon and Jeonguiyeon, as well as suspicions regarding the purchase and sale of the Anseong shelter for comfort women victims.

Earlier, Lee Jong-bae, the representative of Beopse-ryeon, stated in the request for investigation, “If the support funds that Gil received monthly from the government and Seoul city were used arbitrarily without Gil’s consent, embezzlement or breach of trust charges could be established, and if donations were used by deceiving Gil, fraud charges could be established,” adding, “We request an investigation into who used the support funds paid to Gil and how.”

He also said, “Generally, wills are made for relatives, but despite Gil’s children being alive, it is incomprehensible that Yoon Mi-hyang was effectively assigned a role similar to that of an heir,” and “Considering that comfort women victims usually ‘feared’ Yoon Mi-hyang, there is a possibility that Gil’s will was made under coercion, so we request an investigation into the circumstances of the will’s creation.”