Former Justice Minister Park Sang-ki and Former Senior Secretary Cho Guk Also Transferred
[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] The prosecution will reopen an investigation into allegations of external pressure during the investigation of former Vice Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui's 'illegal departure ban case.'
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) Investigation Division 3 (Chief Prosecutor Kim Seon-gyu) announced on the 5th that it had transferred the case of 'allegations of external pressure in the investigation of former Vice Minister Kim's illegal departure ban' to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on the 4th.
They also transferred the cases of former Minister of Justice Park Sang-ki and former Blue House Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Cho Kuk, who were separately registered with the CIO on the same allegations.
The CIO explained that although the investigation of whistleblower Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jang Jun-hee of the Busan District Prosecutors' Office and others is essential, the parties involved have refused to appear for summons, making it difficult to continue the investigation. Additionally, it is impossible to verify or secure the testimonies (witness interrogation transcripts) given by related parties involved in this case during related trials, which was cited as the reason for the transfer.
They also explained that the prosecution continues to investigate other related individuals except for Research Fellow Lee Seong-yoon of the Judicial Research and Training Institute, and that multiple related investigations and trials are scattered between the CIO and the prosecution. Considering the risk of overlapping investigations and trials leading to different conclusions in the same case, which could result in unfair outcomes in terms of judicial trust and human rights protection, they decided on the transfer.
Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jang reported as a whistleblower that in March 2019, Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee Gyu-won of the Chuncheon District Prosecutors' Office, who was dispatched to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Past Affairs Truth Investigation Team at the time, detected circumstances of illegally banning former Vice Minister Kim's departure, but the investigation was blocked by Research Fellow Lee Seong-yoon, who was then head of the Anti-Corruption and Strong Crime Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.
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