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

Rep. Kim Woong of the main opposition People Power Party was on Wednesday grilled by the anti-corruption agency on 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 runup to the April 2020 general elections to file a criminal complaint against pro-Moon government figures and journalists over defaming Yoon, his wife Kim Keon-hee and prosecutor Han Dong-hoon.

The CIO suspects Kim of abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of a right as well as violation of the public official election act.

The anti-corruption agency has been investigating allegations that Yoon had attempted to intervene in the general elections when he served as prosecutor general by instigating the main opposition party to file a legal complaint against the ruling party’s political figures.

Rep. Kim is pointed as 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 complaint to whistleblower Cho Sung-eun as a middleman and instructing her to file official complaints with the court.

The CIO presented key pieces of evidence indicating that Son and Kim were implicated in the alleged election meddling, including a photo file of the complaint delivered by Kim to Cho via a Telegram message in April last year, which shows “Sent by Son Jun-sung.”

Rep. Kim has been at the center of the political meddling scandal since Cho in October disclosed their previous phone conversation to South Korean media.

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

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

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

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

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

A South 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 of Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, has been in the spotlight as it kicked off in 2015 as a public-private partnership while Lee served as the mayor there from 2014 to 2018.

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

Kim 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, which is 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)

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