Public Prosecution Office National Audit Office's battle over allegations of fabrication of 'Ssangbangwool remittance to North Korea' (comprehensive)

(Suwon = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Sol = On the 19th, during the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit of the Public Prosecution Service, questions were asked by ruling and opposition party lawmakers regarding the suspicion of fabricated indictments that arose during the investigation of Ssangbangwool's remittances to North Korea and the appropriateness of the related investigation and inspection.

Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun of the People Power Party asked Kim Bong-hyun, head of the Suwon Regional Public Prosecution Office, "(The Suwon Regional Public Prosecution Office) is currently handling two cases of President Lee Jae-myung. Are there any violations of the law during the investigation?" and "Do you think there was any appeasement against former Gyeonggi Province Vice Governor Lee Hwa-young at the time?"

In response, Commissioner Kim said, "(Prosecutor Park Sang-yong) said he was not a party, but I understand that there was a recording made to try to persuade him to make a statement," but avoided giving a specific answer, saying, "It is difficult to answer because there is a case under trial."

This is interpreted as a reference to the transcript of the phone call with Prosecutor Park that was previously released by former Deputy Governor Lee's lawyer Seo Min-seok. Prosecutor Park has been suspended from his duties by the Ministry of Justice for violating his duties during the investigation of the remittance case to North Korea.

Jang Hye-young, acting head of the Suwon Metropolitan Public Prosecution Office, responded to the criticism from Democratic Party of Korea Judiciary Committee Chairman Seo Young-kyo regarding the transcript, saying, "As far as I know, prosecutors do not normally make phone calls like this to lawyers," but declined to comment, saying, "We are currently in disciplinary proceedings."

Inquiries continued regarding the so-called ‘salmon drinking party’ suspicions.

When Rep. Yoon asked, "Was there a 'salmon drinking party' at the time, and was there alcohol?" Commissioner Kim responded, "It was confirmed that outside food was brought in. There were also some circumstances where alcohol was brought in. It was not an atmosphere where one could freely drink alcohol."

In response, Rep. Yoon asked again, "If the suspicion of appeasement is revealed and a fact-finding team requests it, would you cancel the indictment? Even if external pressure comes in, wouldn't it be better to maintain the position that 'the indictment cannot be cancelled'?"

Commissioner Kim responded, "I have never received such a request (from the fact-finding team). It is not appropriate to give my personal opinion."

Rep. Joo Jin-woo of the People's Power Party asked Jeong Yong-hwan, acting head of the Seoul Metropolitan Public Prosecution Office, "I concluded that Prosecutor Park Sang-yong had a salmon drinking party when he was serving as the head of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office's inspection department, and former Deputy Governor Lee was sentenced to four months in prison for perjury in the first trial." He asked, "If you are punished, will you take responsibility for the results of your investigation and quit your job as a prosecutor?"

At the same time, he said, "Even though his sentence was confirmed, former Deputy Governor Lee is applying for a retrial based on the results of this investigation and is openly demanding parole. Is this too far-fetched?" He added, "He should apologize to the public for investigating the 'Salmon Drinking Party' suspicion as a fake and falsely accusing Prosecutor Park Sang-yong."

Acting Director Jeong responded, "We investigated faithfully in accordance with laws and principles and reported the results," and added, "Further procedures are being carried out by the Public Prosecution Office and the Ministry of Justice, and I have no knowledge of this."

In a supplementary question in the afternoon, Chairman Seo said, "It has been confirmed that various outside food and alcohol were used in addition to raw fish rice bowls that day," and claimed, "In the perjury trial, there was a tight 4 to 3 vote in the public participation trial, and the judgment will be re-judged based on the Ministry of Justice's inspection data in the future."

Regarding the suspicion that the interview report prepared during the investigation into the Ssangbangwool remittance case to North Korea by former Deputy Governor Lee was false, it was also pointed out that the investigator who wrote the report holds a key position at the Suwon Regional Public Prosecution Office.

Representative Kim Dong-ah of the Democratic Party of Korea criticized, "Investigator A, who wrote the report at the time, is in a key position at the Suwon Regional Public Prosecutors' Office in charge of personnel and other duties. Investigator A said at the time, 'I was busy so I wrote the report after the fact and got it stamped,' but isn't he a criminal?"

Commissioner Kim explained, “Human resources is one of the tasks that everyone avoids, and there were not many resources for that task.”