Presidential Office: "Kim Geon-hee's Stock Manipulation Allegations Not Prosecuted Even During Chu Mi-ae and Park Beom-gye's Terms"

Presidential Office Refutes Through Press Corps Notice
Regarding 48th Transaction: "3-Day Purchase, Not Stock Manipulation"
Presidential Office "Regrets Democratic Party Spreading Fake News"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] The Presidential Office on the 14th rebutted regarding the verdict on the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation case, in which First Lady Kim Geon-hee, wife of President Yoon Seok-yeol, was implicated, stating, "The reasons why the Ministry of Justice under Ministers Choo Mi-ae and Park Beom-gye failed to even indict after more than two years of exhaustive investigation are clearly revealed in the verdict."

The Presidential Office made this statement through a notice titled "Correcting the facts as the Democratic Party of Korea is arbitrarily interpreting the verdict and spreading 'fake news for political attacks'" distributed to the press corps that day.

The Presidential Office first claimed, "During the investigation and trial process, dozens of people were rigorously questioned, but not a single person testified that they communicated with or conspired with First Lady Kim regarding stock manipulation," adding, "As a result, there is no specific mention of the First Lady in the main body of the criminal facts."

It continued, "Although the verdict’s list of crimes mentions Kim Geon-hee 48 times, falsely interpreting this as involvement in the crime, all 48 instances are classified under 'Kwon Oh-soo purchase inducement group' and are not related to any nominee accounts," further explaining, "'Kwon Oh-soo purchase inducement group' simply means that CEO Kwon Oh-soo and the defendants encouraged others around them to purchase and traded accordingly."

It emphasized, "Being 'induced to purchase' or having an 'account utilized' does not clearly indicate participation in stock manipulation."

The Presidential Office expressed that the verdict is rather an important document proving the First Lady’s innocence. It pointed out, "Some media outlets exaggerate that there were 48 transactions during the second stock manipulation period, but the trading records show that from October 28 to December 13, 2010, there were only five days of selling and three days of buying," adding, "No matter how much it is exaggerated, 'three days of buying' cannot be seen as involvement in stock manipulation." It also noted, "The stock manipulation period in the verdict spans from October 2010 to December 2012, over two years, and the fact that Kim Geon-hee appears only on November 3, 4, and 9, 2010, in the list of crimes means her trading pattern was entirely different from that of the defendants."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Presidential Office also stressed that the First Lady’s explanation and the verdict’s content do not differ. Regarding this, the office stated, "She has consistently maintained the position that she was deceived by stock manipulator A, entrusted the trading, had her account recovered, and thereafter traded Deutsche Motors stocks intermittently for several years, but never participated in stock manipulation," adding, "There is no conflict between the verdict and her explanation."

In particular, it highlighted, "What is noteworthy in the verdict is that even 'big investor' B, who traded on a much larger scale and frequency than the First Lady and directly placed market manipulation orders such as high-priced purchases, was acquitted by the court," emphasizing, "By the same logic, involvement in stock manipulation cannot be recognized based on 'three days of buying'."

The Presidential Office claimed that the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation case was used as a tool to attack the First Lady during the Moon Jae-in administration. It argued, "The essence of this case is that during the presidential election period, the Moon administration’s prosecution forcibly extended the statute of limitations on a case that had already expired and indicted it, only to be stopped by the court," adding that despite over two years of investigation, there was no content to specify concrete involvement of Kim Geon-hee, making it impossible to even draft the indictment.

It further stated, "Although the entire investigation team had a 'no charges' opinion regarding the First Lady, it was revealed through the media that a prosecution official classified as pro-Moon blocked the handling," and expressed "strong regret that the Democratic Party not only refuses to apologize for false allegations and forced prosecution but also distorts the verdict and spreads fake news."

Park Hong-geun, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is delivering opening remarks at the '1st Meeting of the Kim Geon-hee Stock Price Manipulation Investigation Task Force' held at the National Assembly on the 1st. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@