[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-seop] On the 13th, the prosecution summoned and questioned Park Sang-hyeok, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea (49, Gimpo-eul), who was involved in the 'blacklist suspicion' during the Moon Jae-in administration.
The Criminal Division 6 of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office asked Park in the morning about his role in the resignation process of 13 heads of institutions under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy from 2017 to 2018, early in the Moon administration. Park was an administrative officer in the Blue House Personnel Office at the time. He is suspected of relaying the Blue House's 'intention for institution heads to resign' by communicating with the Operations Support Division, which handles personnel affairs of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
Recently, the prosecution has been focusing on the internal decision-making process of the Blue House at that time. On the 13th of last month, they summoned and questioned Kim Woo-ho, former head of the Ministry of Personnel Innovation, who was Park's direct superior. This is the first time the prosecution investigating the blacklist suspicion has questioned a current opposition party lawmaker. If the investigation reveals that the Blue House pressured institution heads to resign one after another at the start of the Moon administration, the investigation may expand.
This investigation began when the Liberty Korea Party, the predecessor of the People Power Party, filed a complaint with the prosecution in January 2019 against former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Baek Woon-gyu and former 1st Vice Minister Lee In-ho. The Liberty Korea Party claimed that four presidents of subsidiaries of Korea Electric Power Corporation resigned under pressure from 'higher-ups' during the first year of the Moon administration.
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