Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, No Charges in Inspection of 'Jo Guk Investigation Team's Biased Investigation' Complaint

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, which conducted an internal investigation after receiving a complaint that the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office investigation team had conducted a 'biased investigation' into allegations related to former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk's family in 2019, has dismissed the charges.

According to the legal community on the 23rd, the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office Inspection Department conducted a written investigation into the allegations of 'biased investigation' by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office team that investigated former Minister Cho Kuk and dismissed the charges last week.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office Inspection Department received a complaint in August that the prosecution focused only on parts related to former Minister Cho Kuk while investigating allegations of a private equity fund involving his family, and neglected the investigation into the automotive parts company 'Iksung,' which was pointed out as the fund's backer, and instructed the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office to conduct an inspection.

'Iksung' is suspected to have provided funding when the private equity fund operator, Kolink Private Equity (Kolink PE), was established.

As the first investment company of the Kolink private equity fund, former Dongyang University professor Jung Kyung-shim, Cho Kuk's wife, and Cho Beom-dong, his fifth cousin, have claimed that Iksung was the actual operator of Kolink.

However, the court ruled Cho Beom-dong as the 'substantial decision-maker' of Kolink PE, sentencing him to four years in prison and a fine of 50 million won. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Anti-Corruption and Strong Crime Division 1 (Chief Prosecutor Jeong Yong-hwan) has been reassigned to investigate the criminal charges against Iksung's management.

Meanwhile, separately from the case dismissed by the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office this time, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Inspection Department is also inspecting the Cho Kuk investigation team. Earlier, Kim Kyung-rok, a private banker (PB) at a securities firm who acted as the asset manager for former professor Jung, submitted a complaint to the Ministry of Justice via the National Petition Portal in August, alleging that the investigation team coerced confessions. The Ministry of Justice transferred this complaint to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Inspection Department on the 9th.

Following Kim's complaint, Im Eun-jung, the Ministry of Justice Inspection Officer, requested the prosecution to submit investigation records at the time, which sparked controversy. The Cho Kuk investigation team stated through the prosecution's internal network, I-Pros, that "this is an attempt to exert undue influence on the investigation and trial of the Cho Kuk case," and criticized that "the Ministry of Justice's attempt to conduct a primary direct inspection of prosecutors affiliated with the prosecution office is a serious abuse of authority."