[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] A civic group has requested a prosecution investigation regarding the controversy that the law firm established with investment by Park Beom-gye, the nominee for Minister of Justice, experienced rapid growth in sales while Park served as the floor leader of the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee (Law Committee).
The Action Alliance for Restoring the Rule of Law (Beopse-ryeon) announced on the 21st that it submitted a request for investigation to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office against nominee Park on charges including comprehensive bribery and abuse of authority.
Beopse-ryeon stated, "Sales of Myeonggyeong began to rapidly increase from June 2016 when nominee Park took the floor leader position of the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee," adding, "Myeonggyeong’s active use of nominee Park, the Law Committee floor leader, for company business promotion to increase sales by more than 300 times clearly constitutes a conflict of interest." They further said, "If nominee Park received slush funds or other money from Myeonggyeong, it could constitute comprehensive bribery."
According to Beopse-ryeon, nominee Park co-founded the law firm Myeonggyeong, which mainly provides legal support services related to real estate, by investing 10 million KRW in 2012. After disposing of the stake (10 million KRW) in 2014, Park reacquired it (10 million KRW) in 2016.
Myeonggyeong recorded annual sales of 10 million KRW until 2014, but after nominee Park reacquired the stake in 2016, annual sales increased significantly. Annual sales surged to 1,075.64 million KRW in 2016, 1,189.50 million KRW in 2018, and 3,283.13 million KRW in 2020.
Beopse-ryon also requested an investigation of nominee Park on charges of abuse of authority. Beopse-ryon explained, "Nominee Park appointed Shin, the representative lawyer of the law firm Myeonggyeong, as co-chairman of the election campaign committee in the 2016 general election to assist his own election," adding, "This clearly constitutes a conflict of interest and is illegal, and having Shin act as campaign committee chairman, which is an obligation he was not required to perform, can be seen as abuse of authority."
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