Former Chief Prosecutors Kim Seongyu, Park Seokil, and Song Changjin Also Indicted Without Detention
Special Prosecutor: "Investigation Toward the President Was Blocked... Agency's Investigative Powers Were Privatized and Politicized"
Odongun, Chief of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit, appeared on the 1st of this month at the special investigation office for deceased marines in Seocho-gu, Seoul, to be questioned as a suspect in dereliction of duty, responding to reporters' questions. Photo by Yonhap News
Odongun, Chief of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit, and Lee Jaeseung, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the same agency, have been indicted on charges of dereliction of duty.
On November 26, the special investigation team led by Special Prosecutor Lee Myeonghyeon, which is investigating the case of the deceased marine, indicted the two officials, along with former Chief Prosecutor of the Third Investigation Division Park Seokil, without detention on charges of dereliction of duty. In addition, former Chief Prosecutor of the First Investigation Division Kim Seongyu, who is accused of abuse of authority for interfering with the investigation into alleged external pressure regarding the deceased marine case, and former Chief Prosecutor of the Second Investigation Division Song Changjin, who faces the same charge as well as perjury before the National Assembly (in violation of the Act on Testimony and Appraisal before the National Assembly), were also indicted without detention.
Chief Odongun and Deputy Chief Lee are accused of failing to notify or transfer a perjury complaint against former Deputy Chief Prosecutor Song Changjin to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office after receiving it in August last year, instead leaving the case unattended.
Former Deputy Chief Prosecutor Song was reported by Democratic Party lawmakers for perjury (in violation of the Act on Testimony and Appraisal before the National Assembly) after testifying falsely at the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee in July last year that "all warrants for communications records regarding former President Yoon Suk Yeol were dismissed" and "he was unaware that Lee Jongho, former CEO of Black Pearl Invest, was involved in the external pressure case."
According to the law governing the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit, if the chief discovers a crime committed by a prosecutor under their jurisdiction, they are required to notify the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office along with the relevant materials. However, the special investigation team determined that Chief Odongun and Deputy Chief Lee, despite being fully aware that failing to handle the case was illegal and improper under the relevant statutes, took no action, defining the complaint as an unjust political attack targeting the agency’s leadership.
The special investigation team found that for approximately 11 months after the complaint was filed and before it was transferred to the special prosecutor, there was not a single investigation of suspects or witnesses, and no progress was made in the case. There was also no reassignment of the case to another prosecutor or any instructions to proceed with the investigation.
Park Seokil, the former Chief Prosecutor who was initially assigned the case, was also indicted on charges of dereliction of duty. He is accused of failing to properly investigate the perjury case, including drafting a report concluding there was no evidence of wrongdoing just two days after the complaint was filed, without conducting any investigation.
The special investigation team suspects that during the period when the agency was investigating the death of Private Chae, former Chief Prosecutor Kim and former Chief Prosecutor Song, who were acting as chief and deputy chief, interfered with the investigation to prevent it from implicating former President Yoon.
Special Prosecutor Jeong Minyoung stated at a briefing on the same day, "This neglect was not merely a matter of poor job performance, but a deliberate decision not to transfer the case out of concern that the chief or current prosecutors would become subjects of investigation if the case was handed over to an external agency. The defendants abused their authority to block the agency’s investigation from reaching the president, thereby privatizing and politicizing the agency’s investigative powers."
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