Should We Summon Kwak Sang-do... Prosecution Restarts Final Investigation into Daejang-dong '5 Billion Club' Case

Additional Investigation to Prove Charges Against Former Lawmaker Kwak and Others... Revised Criminal Procedure Act Emerges as Major Variable

[Asia Economy reporters Baek Kyunghwan and Jo Seongpil] The prosecution investigating the preferential treatment and lobbying allegations in the Daejang-dong development project in Seongnam City has launched a new breakthrough in the '50 Billion Club' suspicion. They have once again targeted former lawmaker Kwak Sang-do, who was identified as a key figure in the 50 Billion Club, and have begun examining other traces of Kwak during the selection process of private business operators for the Daejang-dong project.

According to the legal community on the 28th, the dedicated investigation team of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (led by Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kim Tae-hoon) summoned and questioned Mr. A, an executive of a construction company, as a witness the day before.

This construction company competed with Hwacheon Daeyu in the 2015 private business operator selection process for the Daejang-dong development project. The investigation team believes that the company proposed to Hana Financial Group to join a consortium they were part of instead of Hwacheon Daeyu, but former lawmaker Kwak blocked this.

Mr. A was responsible for the housing district and public offering projects at the time, and the investigation team reportedly asked about the entire process of the private business operator public offering and selection during this inquiry. A prosecution official stated, "We cannot confirm the exact details." Currently, based on Mr. A's testimony from the day before, the investigation team has begun searching for signs of involvement by related parties.

This investigation is interpreted as a supplementary probe to prove the charges against former lawmaker Kwak, whose arrest warrant was previously rejected once. Since nearly a month has passed since Kwak's arrest warrant was dismissed and the investigation has been hindered by the successive extreme choices of the Daejang-dong project staff, this move aims to keep the investigation alive.

Some interpret that the investigation team is accelerating efforts considering the revised Criminal Procedure Act, which will take effect next year. From January 1, next year, Article 312, Paragraph 1 of the revised Criminal Procedure Act will be enforced, allowing the prosecution to recognize as evidence only the suspect interrogation records acknowledged as accurate by the defense counsel or the defendant during trial.

Until now, even if the defendant denied the contents of the records prepared by the prosecutor in court, they were generally accepted as evidence. However, going forward, the evidentiary admissibility can be excluded. Considering this, from the new year, defendants contesting innocence, such as former Seongnam Urban Development Corporation Planning Director Yoon Dong-gyu and Hwacheon Daeyu major shareholder Kim Man-bae, will naturally deny the evidentiary admissibility of suspect interrogation records prepared by the prosecution, making it impossible to use them as evidence. From the prosecution's perspective, this means the burden of proving charges will rely solely on court questioning and collected evidence.

For the prosecution to avoid this burden, they must conclude the investigation and indict by the end of the year. Inside the courts, attention is focused on the timing of additional indictments by the prosecution ahead of this significant change in criminal trial practice. A judge from the Financial and Economic Court said, "Considering the enforcement of the revised Criminal Procedure Act, it would be advantageous for the prosecution to indict within this week to maintain the prosecution."

However, in the case of former lawmaker Kwak, he has not been re-summoned even once, and it is highly likely that no circumstances justifying a re-request for an arrest warrant have been found in the additional investigation. Both inside and outside the prosecution, the analysis is that the investigation team will not forcefully conclude the case.

The investigation into the higher-ups involved in breach of trust has also been complicated by the extreme choices of former Seongnam Urban Development Corporation Development Project Director Yuhan-gi and Development Division 1 Chief Kim Moon-gi. Non-public summons investigations have also been conducted for former special prosecutor Park Young-soo and former Supreme Court Justice Kwon Soon-il, who were also identified as members of the 50 Billion Club, but the prevailing view is that more time is needed until the final case disposition. A legal insider who requested anonymity said, "Even Kim Oh-soo, the top official of the prosecution organization, was on annual leave the day before," adding, "Given the atmosphere, this week will likely pass quietly without indictments."