Targeting Moon Administration with 'Rhyme' by Ruling Party... Choo Mi-ae Calls It "Fukushima Diversion"

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has begun additional investigations into prominent figures, including members of the National Assembly, in connection with the large-scale redemption crisis caused by the 'Lime·Optimus incident,' causing significant ripples in the political sphere. Ruling party figures have launched attacks targeting the opposition and the Moon Jae-in administration, stating, "Lime·Optimus incidents occurred during the Moon Jae-in government," while the opposition has countered, calling it "political action by the Financial Supervisory Service" and "a distraction from Fukushima contaminated water."

On the 25th, Jeong Woo-taek, a member of the People Power Party, stated on his social media service (SNS), "Both Lime and Optimus incidents occurred during the Moon Jae-in administration," adding, "There were continuous suspicions of involvement and collusion by Blue House and Democratic Party figures at the time, but these were mostly ignored, and the truth was not properly investigated but covered up. Now, a large number of fraudulent activities have newly come to light."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He said, "While the previous administration covered it up quietly, thorough reinvestigation is inevitable as additional fraudulent activities have been revealed in large numbers," and added, "Not only should the reinvestigation cover the large-scale economic crimes and fund frauds that caused huge losses to thousands of investors, but the investigation line at the time that conducted a poor investigation of these major economic crimes also needs to be investigated."

Lee Cheol-gyu, Secretary-General of the People Power Party, said at a party strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the same day, "There is evidence that the Lime fund gave preferential redemptions to a Democratic Party lawmaker just before the redemption suspension. According to reports, the person involved is Kim Sang-hee, a four-term Democratic Party lawmaker," and criticized, "The Lime incident was a large-scale financial fraud crime revealed during the Moon Jae-in government, affecting 4,000 individual investors, but despite several Democratic Party figures being implicated in the process, nothing was clearly revealed due to blatant lenient investigations."

Jeon Ju-hye, the floor spokesperson for the People Power Party, also stated in a commentary, "Choo Mi-ae, former Minister of Justice, who abolished the Joint Securities Crime Investigation Unit in January 2020, suddenly shifted responsibility to Yoon Seok-youl, then Prosecutor General, in October of the same year when suspicions arose that Democratic Party figures were involved in the Lime·Optimus fund fraud case, ordering an unprecedented exclusion of the Prosecutor General's investigation directive and inspection regarding the Lime case," and claimed, "Since then, the case investigation was a thorough cover-up by the Moon Jae-in prosecution."

Related figures from the opposition promptly rebutted. Former Minister Choo denied via SNS, stating, "'The investigation of the Lime·Optimus case was lenient because Moon Jae-in government officials were involved, leading to the abolition of the Joint Securities Crime Investigation Unit and blocking the investigation' is fake news," and argued, "The abolition of the Joint Securities Crime Investigation Unit had nothing to do with the Lime investigation; it was abolished because it had become a hotbed of crime due to a cartel between former prosecutors and the financial sector."

Kim Sang-hee, the Democratic Party lawmaker who was identified as the person involved in the 'preferential redemption,' said, "I entrusted my assets to Mirae Asset, the brokerage firm involved, and suffered losses worth tens of millions of won, but I never received preferential redemption," and added, "Nevertheless, why did the FSS announce such false information? I will strongly hold the FSS legally accountable for announcing preferential redemption."

Democratic Party members of the Political Affairs Committee also criticized in a statement, "The FSS intentionally announced in a way that could be misunderstood as if Kim Sang-hee was involved in preferential redemption, merely because her name was included in the redemption list without any charges or evidence," and said, "Following the prosecution and the Board of Audit and Inspection, now the Financial Supervisory Service has jumped into politics using its supervisory authority as a weapon."