Attorney-at-Law Act Violations on the 19th
Deutsche Motors Stock Manipulation Inquiry on the 21st
The special prosecutor’s team led by Min Junggi, which is investigating allegations involving First Lady Kim Gunhee, will summon Jongho Lee, former CEO of Black Pearl Invest and known as one of Kim’s closest associates, at least twice this week.
According to legal sources on the 18th, the special prosecutor’s team will summon Lee to their office in the KT Gwanghwamun Building West in Jongno-gu at 10 a.m. on both the 19th and 21st for questioning. These will be his second and third appearances since his arrest on the 5th.
Jongho Lee, former CEO of Black Pearl Invest, is arriving at the Kim Gunhee special investigation office set up at the KT Gwanghwamun Building West in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 23rd. 2025.07.23 Photo by Dongju Yoon
On the 19th, the special prosecutor’s team plans to question Lee as a suspect, focusing on additional allegations of violating the Attorney-at-Law Act. Lee is accused of receiving approximately 80 million won on 25 occasions between June 2022 and February 2023 from Jeongpil Lee, the main orchestrator of the first round of stock price manipulation at Deutsche Motors, and promising to help him receive a suspended sentence instead of imprisonment in his criminal trial. The special prosecutor’s team requested an arrest warrant for Lee on the 1st, and the court issued the warrant on the 5th, citing concerns about destruction of evidence. Lee has completely denied the allegations, claiming that Jeongpil Lee’s statements, which triggered the investigation, are false.
On the 21st, Lee will be summoned as a witness in connection with suspicions that Kim Gunhee participated in Deutsche Motors stock price manipulation. Kim is accused of violating the Capital Markets Act by acting as a “money source” (Jeonju) who provided funds for the Deutsche Motors stock price manipulation that occurred between 2009 and 2012. During the so-called “second operation” period, Lee managed Kim’s accounts and acted as a control tower for price manipulation. He was indicted along with eight others, including former Deutsche Motors chairman Ohsoo Kwon, and the Supreme Court has upheld guilty verdicts for all. The court’s ruling specified that three of Kim’s accounts and one account belonging to her mother, Eunsun Choi, were used in the price manipulation scheme. The special prosecutor’s team is expected to press Lee on whether Kim was aware of the stock manipulation when she entrusted her accounts to him.
In addition, Lee has been identified as a key figure in other cases suspected to be linked to Kim, including the Sambu Construction stock manipulation case and lobbying allegations involving Seonggeun Lim and Byungno Cho related to the death of Sangbyeong Chae.
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