Refused Attendance Request, Appeared at Suwon District Prosecutors' Office on 17th... Underwent 9-Hour Investigation and Returned Home
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] It has been confirmed that Lee Seong-yoon, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, who is suspected of exerting external pressure during the investigation of the travel ban case against former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui, appeared at the prosecution on the 17th and was questioned.
The investigation team led by Lee Jeong-seop, Head of the Criminal Division 3 at Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, announced on the 18th, "Yesterday, we summoned Chief Prosecutor Lee as a suspect for questioning."
Chief Prosecutor Lee is suspected of exerting pressure to halt the investigation regarding the travel ban case of former Deputy Minister Kim, which was being investigated by the Anyang Branch of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, while he was serving as the Head of the Anti-Corruption and Strong Crime Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in June 2019.
Since February, Chief Prosecutor Lee's status was changed to that of a suspect following the filing of a complaint related to this matter. Although he was summoned four times, he submitted statements denying the allegations and maintained his refusal to appear.
Accordingly, the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office judged that a face-to-face investigation of Chief Prosecutor Lee was impossible and decided to proceed with prosecution without investigation, reporting this plan to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.
However, on the evening of the 15th, Chief Prosecutor Lee's legal counsel informed the investigation team of his willingness to appear for questioning at the prosecution, and thus the investigation date was set for the 17th, according to prosecution officials.
On that day, Chief Prosecutor Lee appeared at the prosecution around 11 a.m. accompanied by his lawyer, underwent questioning, reviewed the investigation records, and reportedly returned home around 8 p.m.
Chief Prosecutor Lee's side stated, "The reason for not responding to previous summonses was to await coordination of opinions between the prosecution and the Corruption Investigation Office regarding jurisdiction over the case," adding, "There was also a need to be investigated by the Corruption Investigation Office to comprehensively clarify the facts, which is why we did not respond to the prosecution's investigation."
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