‘Kim Hak’s illegal withdrawal’ mystery, who spilled departure information to Lee Gyu-won

Various questions arise over what happened between the night of March 22, 2019 and the dawn of the 23rd, when the prosecutor Gyu-won Lee dispatched a fact-finding team of the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office to the former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hak-eui urgently banned (withdrawal) from the country. First of all, it is a mystery how this prosecutor determined the fact that former Vice Minister Kim attempted to leave the country and tried to ban illegal departure. It is also a mystery that the background was revealed through media reports that the fact that “the departure of former Vice Minister Kim was blocked” before the prosecutor sent an illegal emergency withdrawal request to actually prevent Kim from leaving the country.

Comprehensive coverage of the JoongAng Ilbo on the 14th, the prosecutor was informed of the fact that former Vice Minister Kim intends to leave the country on an AirAsia Airlines flight to Bangkok departing at 0:20 pm on March 22, 2019, at around 10:50 pm on March 22, 2019. . The front-line prosecutors agree that it is a part that the Suwon District Prosecutor’s Office 3rd Division (Director Jeong-seop Lee) should confirm through investigations as to who conveyed the facts of former Vice Minister Kim’s attempt to leave Korea for what reason.

Prosecutors with extensive investigative experience point to the Blue House Civil Affairs Office, the Immigration Office of the Ministry of Justice, and the Information Bureau of the National Police Agency as the state agencies that can check the information on the departure attempt of former Vice Minister Kim. In particular, Lee Gwang-cheol, the current civil affairs secretary, known to be close to the prosecutor, is working as a senior administrative officer in the Blue House Civil Affairs Office. The secretary is said to have become friends with Prosecutor Lee while working together at the Unification Law Society for the 36th term of the Judicial Research and Training Institute. After becoming a lawyer, he worked at the same law firm. In particular, President Moon Jae-in instructed on March 18, 2019, immediately after receiving a report from the Blue House Civil Affairs Office where the senior administrative officer at that time belonged, “The prosecution and police leadership should take the lead of the organization and find out the truth (of Kim Hak’s case).” .

Rep. Kwak Sang-do, a member of the power of the people, said, “It is highly likely that the Blue House Civil Affairs Office was extensively involved in the emergency withdrawal process of Kim’s emergency withdrawal”. “The Blue House used the case of former Vice Minister Kim to raise the issue of prosecution reform. There seems to be this,” Yeo gave strength to the ruling behind the Blue House.

It is also possible that information was obtained through the immigration headquarters. According to a public interest report that raised the suspicion of illegal withdrawal from former Vice Minister Kim, Vice Minister Kim issued a ticket on-site at Incheon International Airport on March 22, 2019 at 10:25 pm and checked in. After that, at 10:48, after completing the immigration inspection using the automatic immigration desk, they moved to the boarding building. At 10:52, Incheon Airport’s information analysis department and public officials recognized the fact that former Vice Minister Kim entered the departure hall while monitoring the immigration inspector, informed the immigration headquarters, and informed the major checkup fact-finding team through the headquarters. An official at the prosecution said, “It is not normal that the departure information of former Vice Minister Kim, who was not even subject to withdrawal, was delivered to the supreme examination fact-finding team. It is a part that will be investigated in the future.”

The prosecutor, who was notified of former Vice Minister Kim’s attempt to leave the country, sent an emergency withdrawal request to Incheon Airport at 0:08 on the 23rd and blocked Kim from boarding the flight to Bangkok, Thailand. In the request, the case number of the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office, which former Vice Minister Kim was acquitted of in 2013, is listed, causing illegal controversy.

However, even before the prosecutor sent an urgent withdrawal request to Incheon International Airport to actually block the departure of Kim, the media began to report on the withdrawal of Kim. The first report began around 11:36 pm on the 22nd. It was earlier than 0:10 am on the 23rd, when former Vice Minister Kim’s departure was blocked. Regarding this, some raised the question that “it is impossible without a time machine.”

Reporter Jung Yujin [email protected]