Yoon Disclosed Wife's Account... Hong Says "Related Suspicions Grow Larger"

Hong Joon-pyo's Side "Must Disclose Account Transaction History from 2011 to 2012"

Yoon Seok-yeol (right), former Prosecutor General and presidential candidate of the People Power Party, and Assemblyman Hong Joon-pyo are posing before the '1-on-1 Debate' held on the evening of the 15th at the MBC building in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kum Boryeong] Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol disclosed the securities account transaction history to resolve suspicions of stock price manipulation involving his spouse Kim Gun-hee and Deutsche Motors, but the suspicions have instead intensified.

On the 21st, Yeomyeong, spokesperson for the camp of Hong Jun-pyo, a rival in the People Power Party primary, criticized, "The transaction history disclosed by former Yoon is only an excerpt from pages 38 to 60 out of a total of 62 pages, and even that has been arbitrarily deleted and modified in significant parts (such as deposit balances)." He added, "Anyone can see that Kim's account transaction history is suspicious, further amplifying public doubts." The day before, Yoon Seok-yeol's camp organized and disclosed Kim's Shinhan Financial Investment account transaction history related to Deutsche Motors stock in 23 A4 pages. The transaction period was from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2010, and personal financial information unrelated to Deutsche Motors transactions was deleted.

Hong's camp also strongly refuted the 40 million KRW valuation loss claimed by former Yoon as 'misleading.' The valuation loss is a loss calculated based on the evaluation at the time without selling the stock, whereas the 'final realized loss' is the actual loss incurred through selling, making them completely different concepts. Former Yoon's camp stated that after Kim entrusted the account to Mr. Lee on January 14, 2010, losses were incurred for four months, so on May 20 of the same year, the remaining Deutsche Motors stocks were transferred to Kim's separate account, resulting in an approximate 40 million KRW valuation loss based on the closing price. Yeomyeong pointed out, "The claim that 'valuation loss at a specific point in time' is the 'final realized loss' is a deception to hide the realized gains after the stock price surge."

In response, Hong's camp demands, "The transaction history from 2011 to 2012, when the actual stock price manipulation occurred, should be disclosed." Deutsche Motors' stock price, which was in the 2,000 to 3,000 KRW range in 2010, surged to 6,000 to 7,000 KRW in 2011. However, Yoon's public relations special advisor Yoon Hee-seok explained on the radio, "We did not trade stocks during that time (2011?2012)."

Hong's camp also raises questions about the source of Kim's funds. Yeomyeong stated, "From the already revealed account transaction history alone, it is confirmed that Kim had over 2.4 billion KRW in cash to purchase stocks," and asked, "What is the source of funds used to purchase expensive apartments and large amounts of stocks during a period when she had no particular job or income?" demanding an answer from former Yoon.

Regarding this, former Yoon's camp said, "Since it has been confirmed that there is no possibility of stock price manipulation, now they are asking to disclose the process of asset formation before the spouse's marriage, which is unreasonable," adding, "There is no problem with the spouse's asset formation process before marriage, and even during regime investigations, everything was thoroughly examined without issue."