[2022 National Audit] Appearing at the Police Agency Audit... Ruling Party "What about Lee Jae-myung?" vs Opposition "What about Kim Geon-hee?"

People Power Party "Police Deliberately Covered Up Past Seongnam FC Case"
Democratic Party "Investigate President Yoon's Mother-in-Law"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] On the 7th, during the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee's audit of the National Police Agency, Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party (Minjoo Party), and Kim Geon-hee, spouse of President Yoon Seok-yeol, were repeatedly mentioned. Both ruling and opposition parties jointly criticized the police for inadequate investigations due to political reasons.

Members of the People Power Party criticized the police for deliberately not properly investigating the allegations related to Lee Jae-myung’s involvement in the Seongnam FC sponsorship fund case. In September last year, the Bundang Police Station in Gyeonggi decided not to prosecute the Seongnam FC sponsorship fund case, but in August this year, the Southern Gyeonggi Police Agency conducted supplementary investigations and referred Lee and the former Doosan Construction CEO to the prosecution. The charges include third-party bribery, among others.

Park Seong-min, a People Power Party lawmaker, questioned, "According to media reports, 16.5 billion KRW was sponsored to Seongnam FC, and there are suspicions of preferential treatment towards Naver, Cha Hospital, and Doosan Construction, which sponsored Seongnam City," adding, "Was the case deliberately covered up?"

Yoon Hee-geun, Commissioner of the National Police Agency, responded, "At the time, the Bundang Police Station reported that they did their best," and added, "The case was referred again because there were changes in the statements of involved parties and new evidence that aligned with those changes, leading to a different judgment."

Additionally, the Eastar Jet recruitment corruption case was mentioned. The main suspicion involves opposition figures and relatives of former President Moon Jae-in being entangled in recruitment corruption. Jo Eun-hee, a People Power Party lawmaker, stated, "Personnel data from 2018 is on the company intranet, so why is there no proper investigation?" and questioned, "Is the investigation being done superficially because it is related to former President Moon’s son-in-law?"

On the other hand, Democratic Party lawmakers raised suspicions surrounding Kim Geon-hee and her mother, Choi, and other in-laws. Choi’s family company, ESI&D, is suspected of receiving various preferential treatments during the process of changing approximately 22,411 square meters in Gongheung-ri, Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province, from public to private development in 2016.

Kim Gyo-heung, a Democratic Party lawmaker, said, "Even though an audit report from the Gyeonggi Provincial Government pointed out the illegality of the allegations, the police investigation has not proceeded," and added, "Lee Jae-myung is leaking information about not investigating, and there has been no written investigation of Choi."

When Nam Gu-jun, head of the National Investigation Headquarters, said he could not specifically disclose whether a written investigation of Choi had been conducted, Kim questioned, "Kim Geon-hee also worked as an executive at this company, so why hasn’t there been a search and seizure?"

Furthermore, Kim Geon-hee’s false career credentials case was also pointed out. Cheon Jun-ho, a Democratic Party lawmaker, said, "The police dismissed the false career credentials allegations against Kim Geon-hee citing the statute of limitations, which is hard to accept," and added, "They did not conduct a search and seizure at Kookmin University and relied on materials submitted by the university, but under this government, who would willingly testify?" In response, Nam said, "(Kookmin University) submitted materials and gave statements," but also acknowledged, "It is true that false credentials were submitted at the time of hiring."