Park Cheolwoo: "Did Not Consider Dropping President Lee's Indictment"; "Suspects Someone Behind MBK Disagreement Reports" [2026 National Assembly Audit]

"President Lee's case is no different from any other case"
On the delay in the MBK case, "A substantial supplementary investigation has been conducted"
"The investigation team and agency head are in agreement... I suspect someone is behind the reports of disagreement"

Park Cheolwoo, chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, said on October 19 that he had never considered withdrawing the indictment in a criminal case involving President Lee Jae-myung or held related discussions with the Ministry of Justice or the Prosecutors' Office headquarters. He also denied reports of disagreements between the investigation team and senior officials over the MBK Partners case, which is investigating the Homeplus crisis, saying of the reports, "I think there may be someone behind them."

Park Cheolwoo, chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (second from left), answers lawmakers' questions during a parliamentary audit of the Seoul Metropolitan Prosecutors' Office (formerly the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office) and other agencies, held by the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 19th. Yonhap News.

At a parliamentary audit by the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee that day, Assemblyman Yoon Sang-hyun of the People Power Party asked Park whether he had offered an opinion or held discussions about withdrawing the indictment in the case involving President Lee. Park replied, "No."

He added, "I know there is enormous public interest in the case, but it is no different from any other case," and said, "As a matter of principle, I cannot say what we will do about an individual case." Regarding the Ministry of Justice Prosecutorial Human Rights and Future Committee's fact-finding team, he said he was "not involved in its work" and did not know the details of the investigation.

Park also rejected reports of internal disagreement over how to handle the case against Kim Byung-joo, chairman of MBK Partners. Earlier reports said the Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office had reported to the Prosecutors' Office headquarters a plan to decline to indict Kim, but that headquarters had called for a supplementary investigation. This prompted speculation that the investigation team and senior officials disagreed.

In response, Park said, "It is certain that everyone, from the current investigation team to the head of the agency, is in agreement." While declining to discuss the internal decision-making process, he added, "I think there may be someone behind the reports that make it seem as though we are not in agreement."

Regarding the MBK case investigation, he explained, "After an arrest warrant was rejected once early this year, the case was reassigned to a new department, which conducted a substantial amount of supplementary investigation," adding, "The case was reassigned so it could be reviewed from a fresh perspective."

The Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office is investigating allegations that MBK executives, including Kim, issued 82 billion won worth of electronic short-term bonds while concealing that they knew Homeplus could face a credit rating downgrade. The Prosecutors' Office plans to decide how to handle the case by December 30, the end of the deferment period.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.