Prosecutors Investigating Daejang-dong to Summon Kwak Sang-do This Weekend Following Park Young-soo

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyung-soo] The prosecution, investigating corruption related to the Daejang-dong development, has summoned former special prosecutor Park Young-soo and plans to call former lawmaker Kwak Sang-do over the weekend.

According to the legal community on the 26th, the dedicated investigation team of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Team Leader Kim Tae-hoon, 4th Deputy Prosecutor) summoned former special prosecutor Park this afternoon for questioning as a suspect.

The prosecution is reportedly verifying Park's relationship with Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management (Hwacheon Daeyu), where Park served as an advisory lawyer, as well as his role during the investigation of the 2011 Busan Savings Bank case. Park's daughter worked at Hwacheon Daeyu and received one remaining apartment unit from Hwacheon Daeyu at half the market price at the time, which sparked controversy.

In 2009, former special prosecutor Park also served as the lawyer for Jo Woo-hyung, a loan broker who arranged a loan worth about 100 billion won from Busan Savings Bank to Lee Kang-gil's private development company in Daejang-dong, when Jo was investigated by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Central Investigation Department in 2011.

The prosecution plans to summon former lawmaker Kwak Sang-do, affiliated with the People Power Party and implicated in the Daejang-dong lobbying allegations, as a suspect for questioning over the weekend.

The prosecution believes that when the Hana Bank consortium, in which Hwacheon Daeyu participated, was on the verge of collapse, former lawmaker Kwak, at the request of Kim Man-bae, exerted influence on Hana Financial Group. They judge that the 5 billion won Kwak's son received from Hwacheon Daeyu as bonuses and other payments was the price for this influence.

Earlier, the prosecution summoned Kwak's son twice for questioning and recently conducted searches at former lawmaker Kwak's residence and office, as well as at Hana Bank.

Money Today Chairman Hong Sun-geun (61), whose name appeared as "Hong Mo" on the "5 Billion Club" list, was also summoned for prosecution questioning on the same day.