Democratic Party Lawyer Tricked into 'False Accusation'
False Accusation Criticizes Prosecution... Then-Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol
Lawyer Mentioned in Letter Denies: "Not True at All"
Kim Bong-hyun, the former chairman of Star Mobility and a key figure in the so-called Lime Asset Management (Lime) scandal, claimed that the 'prison letter' he wrote four years ago was a political plot by the Democratic Party. The Lime scandal caused damage worth about 1.6 trillion won, and Kim, the main culprit, was sentenced to 30 years in prison along with a confiscation order of 76.9 billion won. He is currently incarcerated at the Seoul Southern Detention Center.
On the 13th, Kim released an 11-page A4-sized 'prison letter' to the media through his lawyer. He wrote, "I am the victim of a major political plot by the Democratic Party," and added, "In May 2020, while under investigation for the Lime scandal and lobbying allegations involving political circles, a lawyer named Lee, affiliated with the Democratic Party, visited me daily and persuaded me to 'attack the prosecution from the Democratic Party's side.'" According to him, the 'prison letter' released in October 2020 was the result of succumbing to such pressure.
The letter he disclosed four years ago contained statements such as "I testified to the Southern District Prosecutors' Office Lime investigation team about prosecutors being entertained with alcohol, but the prosecution ignored it," "A former prosecutor-turned-lawyer coaxed and threatened me, saying 'While Ki-dong Min is fine, Kang Ki-jung must be caught,' referring to lobbying within the ruling party," and "They conducted a fabricated investigation until they got the answers they wanted regarding lobbying investigations involving political circles." Kim claims that he wrote such letters after falling victim to the political plot by a Democratic Party official. At that time, the content of this letter led to a clash between then Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol and Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae.
Kim asserted, "I was cooperating actively with the prosecution's investigation and was being treated well," but "later, dragged into repeated political plots by the Democratic Party, I attacked then Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol and the investigation team prosecutors, which resulted in becoming the public enemy of the prosecution, fleeing, and even being charged with contempt, leading to a sentence four times heavier than initially expected?30 years in prison."
He also claimed that, in exchange for cooperating with the Democratic Party, a legislative request aimed at his bail release was pushed forward. He said, "I met with Hwang Hee-seok, the Human Rights Director of the Ministry of Justice, and former Minister Cho Kuk, who personally contacted lawmakers to help expedite the bill's proposal." Twelve Democratic Party lawmakers, including Kim Yong-min, proposed an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act the following year to restrict the issuance of additional arrest warrants for defendants undergoing trials. Kim implied that this move made his bail possible.
Meanwhile, lawyer Lee, who appears in Kim's letter, refuted the claims in a statement provided to the media on the same day, saying, "(Kim Bong-hyun's claims) are completely untrue," and added, "I do not understand the intention behind suddenly making these claims a year after two search warrants and arrest warrant requests were dismissed on February 15 last year."
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