Ruling and Opposition Clash Over Impeachment of Prosecutor Park Sang-yong... "Targeted Investigation" vs "Lack of Evidence"

Prosecutor Park, Investigator of 'Ssangbangwool North Korea Remittance Suspicion'
Former Vice Governor Ihwa-young Appears as Witness

The ruling and opposition parties clashed in the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee over the impeachment of Park Sang-yong, deputy chief prosecutor of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, who investigated Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, in the 'Ssangbangwool North Korea remittance suspicion case.' The opposition pointed out that Prosecutor Park was a key figure targeting Lee in the investigation, while the ruling party argued that the impeachment of Prosecutor Park was merely an attempt to protect Lee.

Former Gyeonggi Province Deputy Governor for Peace Lee Hwa-young appeared at the hearing on the 'Impeachment Investigation Case' concerning Park Sang-yong, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, held on the 2nd at the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, and took the witness oath. [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 2nd, the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee held an impeachment investigation hearing for Prosecutor Park at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul. This impeachment investigation hearing for a prosecutor is the second, following the hearing for Kim Young-chul, deputy chief prosecutor of the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office, in August. The committee summoned 34 witnesses and reference persons, including Prosecutor Park, but only eight appeared. However, Lee Hwa-young, former Peace Deputy Governor of Gyeonggi Province, is scheduled to appear as a witness and speak regarding the Ssangbangwool case.

The ruling and opposition parties confronted each other at the start of the hearing. Song Seok-jun, a member of the People Power Party, said, "None of the reasons for the impeachment of Prosecutor Park have any basis," adding, "I regret that the chairman of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee did not filter out the investigation hearing, judging that the impeachment itself is unreasonable." In response, Jeong Cheong-rae, chairman of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, said, "Today's impeachment investigation hearing for the prosecutor is held following the plenary session's resolution to refer the matter to the committee," and added, "It is an illegal statement for a member of the National Assembly to force the committee chairman to reject the National Assembly Act." Kim Seung-won, a Democratic Party member, pointed out, "The Ssangbangwool case is clearly a stock price manipulation under the pretext of inter-Korean exchanges, but it has been transformed into Lee's North Korea visit payment case," and said, "The National Assembly should closely examine whether this was in exchange for exempting former Ssangbangwool chairman Kim Seong-tae from his own crimes."

The opposition reiterated its stance that Prosecutor Park and other witnesses must attend the impeachment hearing. Members of the Democratic Party and the Innovation Party's Legislation and Judiciary Committee held a press conference at the National Assembly the day before, stating, "The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office suddenly transformed the stock price manipulation case into a case of Ssangbangwool's Gyeonggi Smart Farm expenses and North Korea visit payment after arresting Kim Seong-tae, chairman of Ssangbangwool," and added, "Those refusing to attend the hearing are the culprits." Chairman Jeong said on the day, "We will assess the legitimacy of the reasons for the absence of witnesses and take necessary legal measures."

In July, the opposition passed the referral of the impeachment motion against Prosecutor Park to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee in the plenary session. The grounds for impeachment include coercion of false testimony by former Deputy Governor Lee, disclosure of bribery charges before indictment, and damage to public property by applying ointment inside the Ulsan District Prosecutors' Office building. The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office responded on the 23rd of last month, stating, "This is a retaliatory impeachment proceeding solely because Prosecutor Park investigated crimes related to Lee." Former Deputy Governor Lee was sentenced to 9 years and 6 months in prison in the first trial in June for violating the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act related to North Korea remittances.