[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The prosecution and police, who are simultaneously investigating the 'Daejang-dong Development Project Favoritism and Lobbying' allegations, met for the first time on the 19th to discuss cooperative investigation measures.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and the Gyeonggi Nambu Police Agency, which are investigating the allegations separately, held a 'Prosecution-Police Consultation on the Seongnam Daejang-dong Development Allegation Case' from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul.
Attending the meeting were four prosecution officials, including Kim Tae-hoon, the 4th Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and head of the dedicated investigation team, and Yoo Kyung-pil, head of the Economic Crime Criminal Division. On the police side, four officials attended, including Song Byung-il, head of the dedicated investigation team at the Gyeonggi Nambu Police Agency, and Ko Seok-gil, head of the Anti-Corruption Economic Crime Investigation Unit.
As a result of the consultation, both agencies agreed on the necessity of prosecution-police cooperation to prevent overlapping investigations and to strengthen collaboration, and decided to consult as needed in the future.
Additionally, the police agreed to immediately transfer to the prosecution the case related to the son of lawmaker Kwak Sang-do, which the prosecution had requested to be handed over.
At the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee's inspection of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office held the previous day, Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo stated in response to questions about cooperation with the police that he had also spoken with the Commissioner of the National Police Agency, and that a hotline had been established with the Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and the Chief of the Gyeonggi Nambu Police Agency. However, on the same day, Kim Chang-ryong, Commissioner of the National Police Agency, expressed frontline dissatisfaction regarding forced investigations such as search warrant requests at a press briefing and urged active cooperation from the prosecution.
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