Lawmaker grilled over Yoon Seok-youl’s alleged election meddling

Rep. Kim Woong of the main opposition People Power Party was grilled on Wednesday by the anti-corruption agency about the high-profile election meddling scandal surrounding presidential hopeful Yoon Seok-youl.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials summoned Kim, a prosecutor-turned-opposition lawmaker, for continued questioning as a suspect, which notably came just one day after the interrogation of current public prosecutor Son Jun-sung.

Rep. Kim is accused of colluding with Son in the run-up to the April 2020 general elections to file criminal complaints against pro-Moon government figures and journalists for allegedly defaming Yoon as well as his wife, Kim Keon-hee, and prosecutor Han Dong-hoon.

The CIO suspects Rep. Kim of abusing his authority, obstructing the exercise of a right and violating the Public Official Election Act.

The anti-corruption agency is investigating allegations that Yoon attempted to intervene in the general elections when he served as prosecutor general, by prompting the main opposition party to file legal complaints against ruling party political figures.

Rep. Kim is alleged to be one of the main culprits, along with prosecutor Son, who is accused of ordering subordinate prosecutors to collect evidence against ruling party figures and write complaints.

The lawmaker is suspected of delivering the complaints to whistleblower Cho Sung-eun and instructing her to file official complaints with the court.

The CIO presented key pieces of evidence implicating Son and Rep. Kim, including a photo file of a complaint delivered by Rep. Kim to Cho via a Telegram message in April last year, which contains the words “Sent by Son Jun-sung.”

Rep. Kim has been at the center of the political meddling scandal since October, when Cho disclosed an audio file of their phone conversation to multiple South Korean media outlets.

According to a transcript of their call that was published online, Rep. Kim specifically asked Cho to lodge complaints with the Southern District Prosecutors’ Office. In the phone call, Rep. Kim also explained, directly using the full name of the ex-prosecutor general, that Yoon Seok-yeol would have been named as the mastermind if he personally submitted the document. The lawmaker underscored that he needed to work behind the scenes.

But Rep. Kim on Wednesday dismissed the allegations of election meddling as “unsubstantiated” after arriving at the CIO office in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, reiterating that he remembered nothing about the writer or the details of the complaints.

With regard to the phone conversation, Rep. Kim also denied Yoon’s involvement, saying, “There are no records indicating that Yoon made instructions or we got into a huddle.”

The investigation has drawn public attention as the outcome could have ramifications for the upcoming presidential election in March. On Tuesday, the CIO summoned the first suspect linked to the scandal since the probe began in September.

With only four months left to go until the election, Korean authorities are speeding up probes that involve presidential hopefuls.

A Korean court on Wednesday reviewed the arrest warrant requests for key figures in the land development corruption scandal, which involves presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea.

The urban development project in Daejang-dong, a district within Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, has been in the spotlight as it kicked off in 2015 as a public-private partnership while Lee was mayor.

After questioning the key suspects, prosecutors on Monday sought arrest warrants for three people, including major private partners of the urban development project Kim Man-bae and Nam Wook, on charges of breach of trust and bribery.

Kim Man-bae is believed to be the major stakeholder and owner of Hwacheon Daeyu. Nam is the second-largest stakeholder and owner of Cheonhwa Dongin No. 4, one of the seven affiliates of the company.

The key suspects are accused of colluding with Yoo Dong-gyu, former acting president of Seongnam Development Corp., in manipulating the public bidding procedure that eventually benefited Hwacheon Daeyu.

They allegedly provided bribes to high-ranking officials in return for designing the profit-sharing scheme that allocated astronomical profits to Hwacheon Daeyu.

The court’s decision on whether to issue arrest warrants for the key suspects would be a watershed for the investigation, which has been deadlocked since the prosecution’s request for an arrest warrant for Kim was rejected in mid-October. 

By Ji Da-gyum (dagyumji@heraldcorp.com)