Appearance as a complainant at 2 PM
Additional complaints and submission of related evidence expected
The prosecution will summon Baek Eun-jong, the representative of Seoul's Voice, who filed a complaint against President Yoon Seok-yeol and First Lady Kim Geon-hee regarding allegations of receiving luxury bags, for investigation on the 20th.
According to the legal community, the Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Seung-ho) will summon Baek as a complainant at 2 p.m. on that day for questioning.
On the morning of the 13th, Baek Eun-jong, CEO of Seoul Voice, is making a statement at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul.
Baek, along with Lee Myung-soo, a reporter from Seoul's Voice, provided Pastor Choi Jae-young with a Dior bag and a watch-type hidden camera to be gifted to the First Lady, then received and reported on the recorded footage. Last December, he filed a complaint with the Supreme Prosecutors' Office accusing President Yoon and his wife of violating the Anti-Graft Act and bribery charges.
Baek is also a defendant who was reported to the prosecution by the civic group Halbindan (representative Hong Jeong-sik) along with reporter Lee, who directly purchased the Dior bag, on charges including violation of the Anti-Graft Act, defamation, and false accusation.
Baek, like Pastor Choi, claims that this case was an undercover investigation conducted for public interest purposes. However, unlike Pastor Choi, he maintains that the luxury bag delivered to the First Lady was related to official duties and has stated that he will accept legal punishment accordingly.
It is reported that Baek plans to submit additional materials to the prosecution during his appearance, including KakaoTalk chat captures showing Pastor Choi making personnel requests for third parties to the First Lady.
Baek also announced that he intends to file additional complaints against President Yoon and the First Lady on the same day. The complaints include suspicions of receiving luxury cosmetics and perfumes worth approximately 1.8 million KRW, whiskey worth about 400,000 KRW, and allegations related to personnel requests involving the Financial Services Commission.
Earlier, on the 13th, when Pastor Choi appeared for investigation at the prosecution, Baek appeared with him at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and stated, "When the complainant investigation begins on the 20th, we will submit detailed materials," adding, "One or two more complaints will proceed, and we will initially submit evidence here, and if the prosecution does not conduct a proper investigation, we will continue to submit definitive evidence."
Baek also told reporters covering the case, "Other parts such as KakaoTalk contents that have not yet been disclosed will be submitted to the prosecution, so you can receive them from the prosecution," adding, "If the prosecution receives those materials but still does not conduct a proper investigation, we plan to disclose them to the media afterward."
The investigation of Baek on this day is the first investigation related to the First Lady's case since Lee Chang-soo assumed office as head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.
Meanwhile, the prosecution plans to summon Kwon, a resident of Acrovista who reported to the media that he found books presumed to have been gifted by Pastor Choi to the First Lady, for questioning on the 21st.
Earlier, Kwon claimed that shortly after President Yoon and his wife moved into the official residence at the end of 2022, he found Pastor Choi's handwritten notes on books, memoirs containing inscriptions written by the late President Chun Doo-hwan's wife Lee Soon-ja addressed to President Yoon, and memoirs stamped with the seal of former President Kim Young-sam, all together at the recycling area of the Acrovista apartment complex in Seocho-gu, Seoul.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
