Seongnam District Chief Park Eun-jeong: "I Intended to Report the Differences in Views with the Investigation Team as They Were"… Denies Report on 'Seongnam FC Investigation Department Replacement'

Park Eun-jung, Chief of Seongnam District Prosecutors' Office. / Photo by Seongnam District Prosecutors' Office website capture.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] Park Eun-jung, head of the Seongnam Branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, who has been accused of obstructing the investigation into the 'Seongnam FC sponsorship fund' case involving Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, denied media reports claiming that she "turned the Seongnam Branch's Criminal Division 3, which was reviewing the case, into a department dedicated to sex crimes and replaced the prosecutor in charge."

On the 28th, Park issued a statement in the name of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Seongnam Branch, saying, "To prevent misinformation regarding today's Chosun Ilbo article about the Seongnam FC investigation, we inform you that the assignment of dedicated prosecutors was balanced across divisions in line with the summer personnel reshuffle last August, reflecting the preferences of the chief prosecutor and all prosecutors as much as possible. The Criminal Division 3 was assigned to handle direct investigations of violent crimes such as drugs and organized crime, and the prosecutor in charge of the Seongnam FC case before the summer reshuffle continued to handle the case after the reshuffle."

On the same day, Chosun Ilbo reported under the headline "Seongnam FC Sponsorship Investigation Department Changed to Sex Crime Unit by Park Eun-jung" that "after the Supreme Prosecutors' Office rejected the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) data request made by the Seongnam Branch under the authority of Deputy Chief Prosecutor Park Ha-young, Park Eun-jung took measures to reduce the functions of Criminal Division 3, which had been leading the investigation."

The Criminal Division 3, which was reviewing the Seongnam FC case transferred to the Seongnam Branch following the complainant's objection, was originally responsible for major cases such as special crimes, public security, and corporate investigations. The report stated that these functions were transferred to Criminal Divisions 1 and 2, and Criminal Division 3 was converted into a department dedicated to sex crimes, with some changes in prosecutor assignments.

Additionally, Chosun Ilbo reported that Park Eun-jung assigned the review of the Seongnam FC case to Criminal Division 1 instead of Criminal Division 3 and entrusted the case to Prosecutor A, a junior from her university. It also reported that the FIU data request, initially under the authority of the deputy chief prosecutor, was changed to require the branch chief's approval by revising the regulations.

The Seongnam Branch acknowledged the organizational changes and regulation revisions but denied the report that the prosecutor in charge had changed.

Regarding the revision of the approval regulations, the Seongnam Branch explained, "Reporting to the head of the institution on important investigations is natural regardless of the delegated approval regulations. The adjustment of the delegated approval regulations at that time was made after the appointment of the branch chief as part of a comprehensive revision of regulations, referencing other branches' regulations."

Meanwhile, the Seongnam Branch stated, "The branch chief copied the investigation team's review opinions and thoroughly examined 28 volumes of investigation records totaling over 8,500 pages. Necessary processes, including the branch chief's directives, were documented in writing."

They added, "As a result, there were differences in opinions with the investigation team, so it was decided to report each review opinion as is to the higher prosecution office. During the preparation of the report, the deputy chief prosecutor resigned."

Earlier, media reports raised suspicions that Park Eun-jung ignored the investigation team's and Deputy Chief Park's reports calling for direct reinvestigation by the prosecution or supplementary investigation requests to the police, and exerted pressure to halt the investigation by taking the case records. Park denied these allegations.

The 'Seongnam FC suspicion' originated in 2018 when the Bareunmirae Party filed a criminal complaint alleging that Lee Jae-myung, then mayor of Seongnam and now the Democratic Party presidential candidate, as the club owner of Seongnam FC, secured large sponsorship funds from companies in exchange for resolving corporate issues.

After the Seongnam Ilhwa football team was transformed into the citizen football club Seongnam FC, Lee became the club owner. Six companies based in Seongnam?Doosan Construction (4.2 billion KRW), Naver (3.9 billion KRW), Nonghyup (3.6 billion KRW), Bundang CHA Hospital (3.3 billion KRW), Hyundai Department Store (500 million KRW), and Alphadom City (550 million KRW)?provided a total of 16.05 billion KRW to Seongnam FC from 2015 to 2017 under the names of sponsorship and advertising fees.

In June 2018, the Bareunmirae Party filed a complaint against Lee with the prosecution (Seongnam Branch) on charges of third-party bribery. The allegation was that, similar to how several large corporations provided large sponsorships to the Mir and K-Sports Foundations during former President Park Geun-hye's administration, these companies owning major facilities in Seongnam might have supported Seongnam FC indirectly as a quid pro quo for resolving issues through Lee, such as building permits or land use changes.

There were even suspicions that some of the Seongnam FC sponsorship funds were deposited into related sports organizations in Seongnam and then withdrawn in cash.

On the same day, Dong-A Ilbo reported that at the time of the incident, Lee Jae-myung's close associates and their families were employed respectively in the Seongnam city-affiliated sports organizations and the department responsible for Seongnam FC sponsorship funds. It was confirmed that the person in charge of external cooperation and sponsorship fundraising at Seongnam FC from 2015 to 2017 was the nephew of Lee, who was the president of the Seongnam City Football Association at the time. Lee was a close aide who served as the secretary-general of the Bundang Gap district committee when Lee Jae-myung ran for the Democratic Party in the 2008 general election in Bundang Gap.

After the Bareunmirae Party's complaint, the police (Bundang Police Station), which took over the case, delayed for three years and three months before deciding in September last year not to indict due to insufficient evidence. The case was then transferred to the Seongnam Branch following the complainant's objection, but no decision on reinvestigation was made even after four months.

Deputy Chief Prosecutor Park recently submitted his resignation and expressed his feelings on the internal prosecution network E-PROS, stating, "I am leaving a little earlier than I thought. I tried to find other ways to continue working, but after much thought and response, there was no other way."

Following this, suspicions arose inside and outside the prosecution that Deputy Chief Park and others had reported the need for reinvestigation or supplementary investigation requests to the police, but Park Eun-jung deliberately delayed the decision by stalling.

Park Eun-jung, who served as the Ministry of Justice's inspection officer during former Minister Choo Mi-ae's tenure and played a leading role in disciplining then Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl before being promoted, is considered a representative pro-government prosecutor within the prosecution. For this reason, controversy arose suggesting that Park intentionally obstructed the investigation into this case involving the ruling party's presidential candidate, which led to Deputy Chief Park's resignation.

As suspicions spread, the Seongnam Branch stated in a press release, "The Seongnam Branch is reviewing the investigation records of the Seongnam Branch's investigation division and police investigation records according to law and principles. Also, the reports that the branch chief ordered the termination of the investigation or blocked supplementary investigation requests are not true, so we ask for caution in reporting."

Deputy Chief Prosecutor Park's post on the 25th has been followed by hundreds of supportive comments.

Park Young-jin, chief prosecutor of the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office, wrote on E-PROS on the 26th, "People say there are others who should resign, so why is Deputy Chief Park leaving? I share the exact same thought. If the goal of prosecution reform was to investigate or not investigate certain politically significant cases and to assign specific personnel to certain positions for that purpose, then that goal has already been achieved," criticizing the Moon Jae-in administration's prosecution reform and personnel practices.

He added, "I will not forget the values of professional conscience and political neutrality as a prosecutor you have personally demonstrated."

Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo, while receiving a face-to-face report from Suwon District Prosecutor Shin Sung-sik the day before, once again urged a thorough investigation into the exact circumstances of the conflicts between the branch chief, deputy chief, and investigation team during the Seongnam Branch's handling of the 'Seongnam FC suspicion' case.

However, with suspicions raised that the Seongnam Branch attempted to request financial data related to sponsorship funds provided by Naver to the FIU in June-July last year but was rejected by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, the outlook is growing that uncovering the truth of the case will be difficult.