'The Prosecutor' Demoted for Investigating 'Ulsan Mayor Election Interference' Returns... "Seems Ready to Take Charge of Reinvestigation"

The prosecution is reviewing whether to reopen the investigation into former Blue House Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Cho Kuk and others, who were not indicted due to insufficient evidence in the '2018 Ulsan Mayor Election Interference Case.' In the legal community, Kim Tae-eun, the 3rd Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (age 51, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 31), is receiving extraordinary attention. This is because he, who was previously demoted while investigating the 'Ulsan Mayor Election Interference' case, now has a possibility of leading the case again after three years.

Kim Tae-eun, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office. Photo by Legal News

According to the legal community on the 6th, if the Criminal Division of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office orders the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office to reopen the investigation into the 'Ulsan Mayor Election Interference' case, it is highly likely that the case will be assigned to a department under Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kim. This case is classified by the prosecution as an 'election case' and is to be investigated by a public investigation department. Under Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kim, there are the 1st to 3rd Public Investigation Divisions. When the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office received the case from the Ulsan District Prosecutors' Office and investigated it from November 26, 2019, to January 29, 2020, the 2nd Public Investigation Division was in charge.

At that time, Kim, who participated in the investigation as the head prosecutor, was appointed as the head of the Criminal Division 1 of the Daegu District Prosecutors' Office in August 2020. Regarding this, there was a prevailing analysis inside and outside the prosecution that Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kim was demoted to the provinces by Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae because he targeted the upper echelons of the Blue House and the then 'living power' while investigating the 'Ulsan Mayor Election Interference' case. Even when a wave of personnel repercussions hit, such as Kim Seong-ju, head prosecutor of the 3rd Public Investigation Division at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, who was also involved in the Ulsan Mayor Election Interference investigation and was assigned to the provinces (Ulsan), resigning, Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kim firmly remained in the prosecution.

Then, three years later, on the 29th of last month, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced former Ulsan Mayor Song Cheol-ho and Democratic Party lawmaker Hwang Un-ha to three years and two years and six months in prison, respectively, in the first trial of the 'Ulsan Mayor Election Interference' case. The court effectively acknowledged the Blue House's election interference and directed investigation during the Moon Jae-in administration, marking a new phase in the case. It has become necessary to re-examine whether the prosecution's decision in January 2020 to exclude former Senior Secretary Cho, former Presidential Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok, and former Civil Affairs Secretary Lee Kwang-cheol from indictment was appropriate. The Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, which is reviewing the appeal filed by the People Power Party in 2021 against the prosecution's non-indictment of Im, Cho, and Lee, is expected to reach a conclusion soon. The possibility that Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kim will be given the opportunity to complete the unfinished investigation has increased. If given the chance, the legal community expects Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kim to lead the investigation with exceptional enthusiasm.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Division of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office is reportedly reviewing whether to order a reinvestigation by exchanging opinions with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on the first trial verdict and related legal principles, as well as matters to consider if a reinvestigation is conducted. It is said that the Supreme Prosecutors' Office instructed them to "review promptly," so a conclusion may be reached within this year. A Seoul High Prosecutors' Office official told Asia Economy in a phone interview, "We waited for the first trial verdict, and after it was issued, we are reviewing (whether to reopen the investigation) according to the usual procedures."