[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Lee Seong-yoon, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, submitted a written statement on the 26th to the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, which is investigating former Vice Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui's illegal departure allegations, detailing the situation at that time. In the statement, he completely denied the allegations of pressure to halt the investigation.
On the afternoon of the same day, Chief Prosecutor Lee delivered a statement containing this content to the press corps. In the statement, he said, "Regarding the emergency travel ban by Prosecutor Lee Gyu-won in June 2019, the Anti-Corruption and Strong Crime Division of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office never directed the Anyang Branch Office not to investigate or instructed the Suwon High Prosecutors' Office not to be notified." At the time of the 'pressure to halt investigation' allegations, Lee was the head of the Anti-Corruption and Strong Crime Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.
Chief Prosecutor Lee also claimed, "There was absolutely no contact with the Anyang Branch Office or other investigation personnel related to this case, nor was there any related consultation." He added, "The July 2019 investigation report from the Anyang Branch Office was all reported according to the usual reporting procedures to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office." He further emphasized, "If the Anyang Branch Office were to investigate the emergency travel ban case, approval from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office would be required according to the corruption crime investigation guidelines, but no such approval request was made." This asserts that there was no situation where the Supreme Prosecutors' Office would have obstructed the Anyang Branch Office's investigation at that time.
Chief Prosecutor Lee also stated, "The currently enforced High-ranking Public Officials Crime Investigation Act stipulates that if a prosecutor's suspicion is found, it must be referred to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO)." He continued, "If a suspicion of a high-ranking public official prosecutor is found, under the current law, there is concern about jurisdiction and whether compulsory investigation authority exists within the prosecution," adding, "As a law enforcement agency, such legal disputes should not arise during the investigation process." This is interpreted as suggesting that the case should be transferred to the CIO rather than the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office.
Earlier, the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office's "Kim Hak-ui Travel Ban Case Investigation Team" (led by Lee Jeong-seop, Head of Criminal Division 3) reportedly issued three summons notices to Chief Prosecutor Lee. This was to verify allegations such as pressure to halt the investigation contained in the second whistleblower report. The whistleblower report claimed that the Anti-Corruption Division exerted pressure to stop the investigation when the Anyang Branch Office was investigating the 2019 travel ban information leak allegations. However, Chief Prosecutor Lee did not respond to these summons notices.
The investigation team questioned related persons, including Moon Hong-seong, then head of the Anti-Corruption and Strong Crime Division at the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, as witnesses regarding these allegations. It is known that Chief Prosecutor Lee is the only remaining subject for investigation related to the Anti-Corruption and Strong Crime Division at that time. Regarding this, Chief Prosecutor Lee expressed dissatisfaction, saying, "I regret that it has been reported as if the 'Seoul Prosecutor General has been converted into a suspect' just because an unidentified complaint was recently received, making it seem as if the prosecution has recognized criminal charges."
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