Police to Secure CCTV This Week Regarding Cheongong Allegations... Forensic Analysis Planned

The police are expected to secure the closed-circuit television (CCTV), considered the 'smoking gun,' related to the suspicion of the fortune teller 'Cheongong's involvement in the relocation of the presidential residence as early as this week and will begin digital forensic work.

A Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency official said at a regular press briefing on the morning of the 27th, "The Presidential Security Service has expressed its willingness to actively cooperate with the investigation," adding, "We have confirmed the existence of the (CCTV) hard disk at the time, but whether the footage exists will need to be verified through digital forensics after securing it." The official added, "Negotiations are underway to secure CCTV footage not only from the official residence but also from the Ministry of National Defense and the Seoul office," and "In addition to CCTV, we plan to investigate comprehensively by analyzing communication records, entry logs, and statements from related parties."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding the possible timing of securing the CCTV, the official said, "Since cooperation for the investigation was agreed upon last week, we expect to secure it sufficiently within two weeks." On the delay in securing the CCTV since the accusation in December last year, the official said, "We believe the delay was due to the Security Service being cautious because of security concerns."

Earlier, the police faced severe criticism for focusing only on questioning related parties without securing the official residence CCTV footage from March last year, when Cheongong was suspected to have visited the Army Chief of Staff's residence. In particular, attempts to secure the CCTV were not made on the grounds that the footage retention period had expired, leading to criticism from political circles questioning whether there was any will to investigate.

The police are also reportedly coordinating the investigation schedule with Cheongong. A Seoul police official said, "We are continuously in contact," but added, "He has not yet expressed a specific intention to appear or set a date." While conducting investigations of related parties, including former Army Chief of Staff Nam Young-shin, the police also searched the home of former Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Boo Seung-chan, who raised suspicions about Cheongong's involvement in the residence, on the 23rd.

Additionally, the police announced that they sent Chairman Lee Sang-young of Daewoo Industrial Development, CEO Han Jae-jun, and financial officers, who are accused of accounting fraud, to the prosecution without detention on the 23rd. After receiving a complaint from a civic group in January last year, the police assigned the case to the Financial Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and began a forced investigation in April of the same year by searching Daewoo Industrial Development's headquarters in Incheon and its Seoul branch. Regarding the reason for sending them without detention, the police said, "The court dismissed the first detention warrant request, stating there was no need for detention, and the second detention warrant was dismissed at the prosecution stage," adding, "Considering the current situation, we judged that there is no need to reapply for a detention warrant."