'Blacklist Allegations' 5 People Including Moon Government's Personnel Chief and Minister of Industry Prosecuted

Four Years After Allegations Raised... Indicted on Charges of Abuse of Authority and Obstruction of Rights

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] The prosecution investigating the Moon Jae-in administration's 'blacklist' allegations indicted five individuals on the 19th, including former Blue House Personnel Secretary Cho Hyun-ok and former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Baek Woon-kyu.

The Criminal Division 6 of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Seo Hyun-wook) announced on the afternoon of the 19th that they had non-detained indicted former Secretary Cho, former Minister Baek, former Minister of Science and ICT Yoo Young-min, former Minister of Unification Cho Myung-kyun, and former Presidential Secretary for Personnel Kim Bong-jun on charges of abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of rights. This comes about four years after the blacklist allegations were first raised.

They are accused of receiving resignation letters without justifiable reasons from heads of 11 public institutions under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, 7 under the Ministry of Science and ICT, and 1 under the Ministry of Unification from September 2017 to April 2018.

Former Minister Baek and former Secretary Kim are accused of providing undue favors to political figures pre-designated as successors to institution heads by the Blue House Personnel Office.

Former Minister Yoo is accused of pressuring Lim Ki-chul, President of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Planning and Evaluation, along with then First Vice Minister Lee Jin-gyu and Director Lim Dae-sik of the Science and Technology Innovation Headquarters, starting around June 2017.

Former Minister Cho is accused of urging Son Gwang-joo, former Chairman of the North Korean Defectors Support Foundation (now the South-North Hana Foundation), who had about one year left in his term, to resign during July to August 2017.

The blacklist investigation began in January 2019 when the Liberty Korea Party, the predecessor of the People Power Party, filed complaints with the prosecution against former Minister Baek Woon-kyu and former First Vice Minister of Industry Lee In-ho (60).

The prosecution officially launched the investigation last March by conducting raids on the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and eight of its subsidiaries.