[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] It has been confirmed belatedly that a police officer suspected of leaking an internal investigation report mentioning Kim Gun-hee, the wife of Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, to a media outlet has been handed over to the prosecution.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Intelligent Crime Investigation Unit announced on the 10th that police officer A, who was booked without detention on charges of official secret leakage, was sent to the prosecution with a recommendation for indictment in June.
According to the police, Officer A is suspected of receiving the internal investigation report from fellow officer B, who prepared the report from the Police Agency's Major Crimes Investigation Division mentioning Kim Gun-hee, and delivering it to Newstapa.
Newstapa reported in February that the police had investigated Kim in connection with suspicions of stock manipulation involving Deutsche Motors. The report cited a document prepared in 2013 by the Police Agency's Major Crimes Investigation Division. The Police Agency denied the report, stating that "although Kim was mentioned in the related documents, she was not the subject of the investigation."
The Police Agency began an internal inspection targeting Officer A and others but, finding limitations in accurately verifying the facts, converted it into a formal investigation. Officer B, who prepared the internal investigation report, was also booked but sent to the prosecution with a recommendation for non-prosecution.
The police reportedly judged that Officer B's act of handing over the report to Officer A was within the scope of official duties and therefore did not constitute official secret leakage.
Currently, this case is under investigation by the Criminal Division 3 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Yoon Jin-yong).
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