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Prosecutors raid Blue House in power abuse probe

Cheong Wa Dae. (Yonhap)
Cheong Wa Dae. (Yonhap)
The investigation into an alleged power abuse scandal involving Cheong Wa Dae intensified Wednesday as prosecutors raided the presidential office to secure records related to the controversial suspension of an internal inspection of a senior official in late 2017.

The senior official, former Busan Vice Mayor for Economic Affairs Yoo Jae-soo, was detained Nov. 27 on bribery charges.

The prosecutors were handed over documents identified in the warrant as per the usual custom. By law, law enforcement needs approval from the presidential office before any raid is carried out at its premises, as it contains military secrets.

On Monday, prosecutors raided the Seocho Police Station to look into the death of an investigator found dead Sunday amid another power abuse scandal where the Blue House is suspected of meddling in an election. The investigator worked for a senior presidential secretary.

The Blue House allegedly instigated an investigation into then-incumbent Mayor Kim Gi-hyeon to influence the 2018 Ulsan mayoral election. A close friend of President Moon Jae-in won that election. The presidential office denies any wrongdoing in both suspicions.

“The inspection team ‘didn’t come up with charges’ on its own to prompt a police investigation,” Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Ko Min-jung said Wednesday. The inspection team, upon learning about the corruption allegations involving Mayor Kim’s associates, notified police, Ko said.

Ko expressed unease with the ongoing investigation by the prosecution. The Blue House believes the prosecutors are feeding local media outlets the latest developments in the probe to sway public opinion in their favor.

“May I bring it to the attention of the prosecutors that disclosing the details of an ongoing investigation is no longer sanctioned under the new regulations,” Ko said.

Meanwhile, prosecutors and police are also at odds.

Police have taken issue with how prosecutors suddenly raided the Seocho Police Station to seize a deceased investigator’s cellphone, among other belongings, to look for ties between the presidential office and the alleged election meddling.

The usual protocol is for police to investigate a crime before handing over the case to prosecutors. They suspect that the prosecutors swooped in to secure evidence that they did not want police to examine. The prosecutors refused to share the results of the forensic examination of the investigator’s cell phone.

Police are reportedly preparing to ask the court for a warrant to seize the phone, but that remains unlikely as they would have to go through prosecutors to file one. Prosecutors argue that they had to conduct the raid on a short notice because it was a sensitive case.

By Choi Si-young (siyoungchoi@heraldcorp.com)
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