Police Plan Additional Investigation of Witnesses in 'Lee Jun-seok Sexual Bribery and Cover-up Allegations'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The police plan to conduct additional investigations into the CEO of a small and medium-sized enterprise suspected of providing sexual favors to Lee Jun-seok, the leader of the People Power Party.

A Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency official stated at a regular press briefing on the morning of the 4th, in response to questions regarding the investigation into allegations of sexual favors and evidence tampering involving Lee Jun-seok, "Last week, we conducted an investigation targeting Kim Seong-jin, CEO of iKist," adding, "We are coordinating additional witness interviews at the request of the defense counsel." The official further explained, "Due to time constraints, the previous investigation was not completed," and "There are matters that need to be confirmed, so further investigation is necessary."

Kim is a figure suspected of providing sexual favors and holiday gifts to Lee Jun-seok when Lee was an emergency committee member of the Hannara Party (the predecessor of the People Power Party) in 2013. Kim is currently incarcerated at Seoul Detention Center in an unrelated case. The police have been investigating since January this year after receiving the case from the prosecution, which was filed by the Garosero Research Institute (Gaseyeon) at the end of last year accusing Lee Jun-seok. Since the allegations surfaced in December last year, Lee Jun-seok has denied the sexual bribery claims. A police official said regarding the sexual favor allegations and all related investigations involving Lee Jun-seok, "It is difficult to confirm," but added, "We will continue to investigate all allegations raised."

Regarding the investigation into Kim Geon-hee, wife of President Yoon Seok-yeol, over allegations of false career credentials, the police said, "The investigation related to the complaint has been completed, and we are analyzing the materials." On the current situation where Kim has not responded to the written inquiry related to the allegations, the police explained, "There is no set deadline for the response," and "It is difficult to disclose specific progress of the investigation." Concerning the case where Kim's fan cafe filed a complaint against a reporter from the online media outlet Seoul Voice, the police stated, "The complainant's investigation has been completed by the Seocho Police Station, and the investigation will proceed according to the content and procedures."

Regarding the complaint about the 'ghostwriting of the eldest daughter’s thesis' involving Han Dong-hoon, the nominee for Minister of Justice, the police said, "After investigating the complainant, we are verifying the details and facts one by one." Concerning the Discovery Fund fraud case, they said, "After detaining and transferring CEO Jang Ha-yeon, we are continuously investigating the fund sales companies," adding, "Additional complaints have been received from victim groups, and we will conduct parallel investigations."