Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Launches Investigation into Kwon Soon-il, Advisor of Hwacheon Daeyu (Comprehensive)

Former Supreme Court Justice Kwon Soon-il / Photo by Jang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office has launched an investigation into former Supreme Court Justice Kwon Soon-il, who caused controversy by serving as an advisor at Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, which is suspected of preferential treatment in the Daejang-dong development project, without registering as a lawyer.

On the 24th, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office announced, "We have transferred the case of the accusation against former Justice Kwon for violating the Attorney-at-Law Act to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office today and instructed them to conduct a direct investigation." The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, which received the case, assigned it to the Economic Crime Criminal Division under the 4th Chief Prosecutor (Chief Prosecutor Yoo Kyung-pil) and began a full-scale investigation.

It is known that former Justice Kwon served as an advisor to Hwacheon Daeyu from two months after his retirement in September last year and received an advisory fee amounting to 15 million KRW per month. During this process, suspicions arose that he may have violated the Attorney-at-Law Act by advising Hwacheon Daeyu without formally registering as a lawyer. In response to the controversy, former Justice Kwon reportedly donated the entire amount of approximately 150 million KRW he received from Hwacheon Daeyu to the Korea Autism Love Association.

Earlier, organizations such as the Lawyers for Human Rights and Unification of the Korean Peninsula filed a complaint with the Supreme Prosecutors' Office the previous day, accusing former Justice Kwon of post-retirement bribery, violations of the Public Officials Ethics Act, and the Attorney-at-Law Act. Former Justice Kwon had previously expressed a not guilty opinion in the appeal trial of Governor Lee's violation of the Public Official Election Act in July last year.