Cousin Relationship... "Legal Advice on Mobile Phone Disclosure, etc."
Former Marine Corps 1st Division Commander Lim Seong-geun was caught seeking legal advice via text message from a current prosecutor who is a relative during a National Assembly hearing. The prosecutor explained that he only advised on the disclosure of the mobile phone and the witness oath.
At the hearing related to the "Petition for the Request to Propose the Impeachment of President Yoon Seok-yeol" held at the National Assembly on the 19th, a mobile phone screen showing a text message sent by former Commander Lim around 12 PM, just before the recess, saying, "To Representative Park Gyun-taek, legally, how far should the phone be disclosed when checking it?" was captured by reporters' cameras.
As criticism from opposition party lawmakers continued, former Commander Lim explained that he only sought legal advice from a relative who is a current prosecutor during lunchtime.
Park Cheol-wan, a prosecutor at the Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office, who was identified as the person from whom former Commander Lim sought advice, issued a statement that day acknowledging that they are second cousins and explaining the circumstances of their contact.
Text messages exchanged between former Division Commander Lim Seong-geun and Prosecutor Park Cheol-wan[Provided by Prosecutor Park Cheol-wan. Resale and DB prohibited]
Prosecutor Park disclosed the text messages exchanged with former Commander Lim and stated, "Just the contact list. No KakaoTalk or text messages. Please only provide the contact list. If you say that conversations after opening a new phone are irrelevant and cannot be disclosed, that is acceptable," he said.
This was legal advice regarding the scope of information disclosure in response to Representative Park's inquiry about disclosing the new phone that former Commander Lim has been using after the Public Corruption Investigation Office seized his previous phone.
Regarding the witness oath, he explained that after sending a text message saying, "Since there is no case of external pressure, tell him to take the oath," he advised over the phone that "it would be better to take the oath for the entire matter rather than limiting it to some issues."
In fact, former Commander Lim refused to take the oath during the morning session but expressed his intention to take it just before the afternoon session resumed and then took the oath.
Meanwhile, according to the communication records submitted to the military court, it was confirmed that former Commander Lim also exchanged several contacts with Prosecutor Park around August 1-2, when the corporal case, which had been transferred to the police, was being withdrawn.
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