The High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency (Gong-su-cheo) has assigned and begun reviewing records related to a current prosecutor suspected of having made a backdoor deal with Jang Si-ho, the niece of Choi Seo-won (formerly Choi Soon-sil), during the special prosecution of the state affairs manipulation case.
Gwacheon Government Complex High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency. [Image source=Yonhap News]
On the 14th, Gong-su-cheo announced that it had assigned the case, in which a civic group accused Kim Young-cheol, head of the Anti-Corruption Division 1 at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office (age 51, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 33), of abuse of authority and other charges, to Investigation Division 2 (Chief Prosecutor Song Chang-jin).
Earlier, some media outlets reported that Kim was dispatched to work with the special prosecution team for the state affairs manipulation case in 2016 and had private contact and meetings with Jang, who was a suspect at the time. They also released recordings suggesting that Kim informed Jang of the prosecution's recommended sentence and instructed her to memorize her testimony.
In response, the civic group Judicial Justice Citizens' Action (Sasehaeng) filed a complaint with Gong-su-cheo on the 9th, accusing Kim of abuse of authority and instigating false testimony.
Kim filed a defamation lawsuit on the 10th against the reporters who covered the allegations at the Seoul Seocho Police Station under the Information and Communications Network Act, claiming the allegations were untrue.
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