Kim Yong-min "The prosecution is currently politicizing... Can the Supreme Prosecutors' Office be called a national organization?"

Published 19 Oct.2020 09:11(KST)

Kim Yong-min, member of the Democratic Party of Korea. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-eun] On the 18th, Kim Yong-min, a member of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's announcement regarding the 'Lime Asset Management Redemption Suspension Incident,' which has escalated into allegations of lobbying involving political and business circles, saying, "The prosecution (Supreme Prosecutors' Office) is currently engaging in politics," and questioned, "Can the Supreme Prosecutors' Office be called a national organization?"

On the same day, through his Facebook, Representative Kim said, "Considering the level of suspicion, it is difficult to understand even if the Prosecutor General personally made a statement about the Ministry of Justice's inspection, but I cannot believe that the Supreme Prosecutors' Office organization made such a statement."

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office announcement mentioned by Representative Kim was issued in the afternoon as a rebuttal to the Ministry of Justice's statement that "the prosecution investigation into the Lime Asset Management case is not progressing properly."

The Ministry of Justice stated that regarding the revelations by former Star Mobility Chairman Kim Bong-hyun, "Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol was directly involved in selecting the prosecutors for the Lime Asset Management case investigation and repeatedly emphasized thorough investigation. However, despite receiving specific reports on misconduct involving opposition politicians and prosecutors, he did not direct a thorough investigation into the misconduct of ruling party figures, unlike the opposition, confirming suspicions of relatedness," and added, "The connection cannot be ruled out."

It also said, "Considering the results of the ongoing inspection and the allegations of misconduct raised, we are reviewing the investigative body and method separately from the current inspection."

In response, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office stated in a press release, "Prosecutor General Yoon repeatedly ordered a thorough investigation into the overall 'Lime case' investigation," and added, "Despite these orders, the Ministry of Justice's announcement, which contradicts this, is entirely unfounded and amounts to slander against Prosecutor General Yoon, making it completely unacceptable."

Representative Kim said, "This announcement makes one doubt their own eyes," and added, "The prosecution (Supreme Prosecutors' Office) is currently engaging in politics. Appropriate and lawful measures must be taken against prosecutors involved in politics."

In another post, he said, "Prosecutor General Yoon ordered a thorough investigation into Kim Bong-hyun's revelations, but given the circumstances suggesting Yoon's involvement, the order sounds like a directive to cover up the investigation," and added, "I think Yoon's order is a shallow tactic to refuse inspection by making it a case under investigation while the Ministry of Justice's direct inspection is underway."

Regarding former Chairman Kim Bong-hyun's revelations, the ruling party is strongly advocating for this case to be the 'first investigation target' of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit (High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office, Gong-su-cheo). Since Kim's statement includes lobbying suspicions involving high-ranking prosecution officials, there are concerns about relying solely on the prosecution's investigation.

Although doubts about the credibility of Kim's statement have been raised, the ruling party insists that since he risked heavier punishment by issuing what is called a 'prison letter,' the facts must be thoroughly examined.

Relatedly, Kim Nam-guk, a Democratic Party member of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, said on Facebook, "No one claims that Kim Bong-hyun's story is 100% true," but added, "If the content is true, the Lime case, which should have been thoroughly investigated, was justly covered up to conduct a political and targeted investigation."

He also said, "This is another case of state power abuse by the prosecution and a national disgrace," and emphasized, "Especially if the content of the statement is true, it is clear that Kim himself faces more than ten years of aggravated punishment under the Special Act for Bribery, yet he wrote a prison letter. Therefore, the letter's content should not be hastily judged as full of holes."