The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, which is investigating the alleged involvement of President Yoon Seok-yeol’s wife Kim Kun-hee in the stock price manipulation of Deutsche Motors and the alleged receipt of luxury handbags, reported the investigation of Ms. Kim to Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok after the fact, sparking controversy over “passing over the Prosecutor General.” In response, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office explained, “We could not report to the Prosecutor General (who had been stripped of his investigative authority) about the Deutsche Motors case.”
The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office said on the same day, “The Prosecutor General is deeply concerned about this situation.” It also said, “Our position is that (the Prosecutor General’s public message) is an issue that cannot be resolved by the end of the day.”
On the 21st, an official from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office explained regarding the controversy over passing over the Prosecutor General, “In a situation where the lawyer for the Deutsch Motors case responded to the prosecution’s summons by saying, ‘I will be questioned in person at a third location,’ the case was not one that could be reported to the Prosecutor General, so no report was made.”
Currently, the Prosecutor General does not have the authority to direct the investigation into the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation case. This is because in October 2020, during the Moon Jae-in administration, then Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae exercised the authority to direct the investigation to block then Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol from directing the investigation into the case, and this effect remains in effect to this day. However, the Prosecutor General has not been stripped of the authority to direct the investigation into the luxury bag bribery suspicions.
This official explained, “The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office issued a directive to ‘investigate the two cases (allegations of stock manipulation at Deutsche Motors and allegations of bribery of luxury bags) together and not separate them,’ and the investigation team also said that both needed to be investigated, but it was uncertain whether the luxury bag investigation would be conducted (even if a face-to-face investigation was conducted).” He added, “We began investigating the Deutsche Motors case first on the afternoon of Saturday (the 20th), and after a certain point in the investigation, we concluded that ‘the luxury bag case could also be investigated,’ and a report was made to the Prosecutor General.”
According to the prosecution, Ms. Kim was the first to contact them to be investigated for the Deutsch Motors case, and Ms. Kim’s legal representative for the luxury bag acceptance case refused to conduct a face-to-face investigation, saying that they would rather have her be investigated in writing. In the midst of this, when Ms. Kim was being investigated in person for the Deutsch Motors case, the luxury bag acceptance case also became available for investigation, so this was belatedly reported to the Prosecutor General, and it is said that the Prosecutor General was not passed over.
A Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office official said, “The investigation team also feels somewhat sorry about the way the reporting procedure to the commissioner was conducted.”
The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office told reporters on that day, “This is an issue that cannot be resolved today (about the Prosecutor General’s position)” and “there will be no formal doorstepping on the Prosecutor General’s way to work tomorrow morning (the 22nd).”
Kim So-young, Donga.com reporter sykim41@donga.com
Source: www.donga.com
