Suwon District Prosecutors’ Anyang Branch investigated the suspicion of banning the departure of former Vice Minister Kim Hak-eui in March 2019, and discovered the illegal activities of the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office’s past photographic investigation team at the time. Was raised. At the time, the head of the anti-corruption and power department at the great sword was Lee Seong-yoon, the current Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office.
Lee Seong-yoon, Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office. Central photo
According to an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo on the 21st, the investigation team of Anyang Branch was assigned an investigation request case against the immigration officers of the Ministry of Justice in April 2019, accused by the anti-corruption department of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office for leaking information on the ban on departure of former Vice Minister Kim. Subsequently, until July of that year, an investigation was conducted on the immigration headquarters staff.
During this process, the investigation team analyzed the records of the Ministry of Justice’s prosecution and the mobile phone forensic data of employees of the immigration headquarters, and identified the fact that Prosecutor Gyu-won Lee, who was dispatched to the fact-finding team at the time, entered a fake case number in the emergency withdrawal request and approval request for Kim. . It also identified inappropriate emergency withdrawal prohibitions and approvals by executives, including Cha Gyu-geun, head of the Immigration and Foreigners Policy Division. At the time, former Vice Minister Kim was not a suspect, but a simple civilian status.
We also confirmed records that immigration staff were unauthorized inquiries and sharing of personal information, former Vice Minister Kim’s real-time departure information.
Accordingly, the investigative team planned an investigation not only of prosecutor Lee Gyu-won, but also executives such as Cha Gyu-geun, head of the headquarters. However, since the end of June, the Prosecutors’ Office of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Anti-Corruption and Power of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office have been in touch with the intention to intervene in the investigation and stop further investigations, such as to report the investigation of immigration officials through various channels.
The investigation team also tried to report to Suwon High Prosecutor’s Office on charges of writing false official documents and abuse of authority in relation to the fact that Prosecutor Gyu-won Lee requested an emergency withdrawal in the name of the Seoul East District Prosecutor’s Office. This is because the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office of Anti-Corruption and Power has contacted the former vice minister with the intention of “Investigating only the process of leaking withdrawal information to former Vice Minister Kim, and not proceeding with the rest.”
At the time, the investigation team expressed an opinion that the investigation should be continued, but in the end, on July 4 of that year, on the 9th of the same month after reporting the results of the investigation by stating that they will no longer conduct investigations on whether emergency withdrawals are illegal at the request of the Ministry of Anti-Corruption and Power of the Supreme Swordsman. All five employees of the immigration headquarters were dismissed and the investigation was terminated.
“Night urgent circumstances, write the report after the Dongbu District Prosecutor’s Office”
In the investigation result report on July 4, “In the process of reviewing the forensic data randomly submitted by the Ministry of Justice, the image file of the document requesting approval for the emergency withdrawal was found by manually indicating the status of the Dongbu District Prosecutor’s Office without the officer of the investigating agency.) “It was confirmed that the procedure for preparing related documents was in progress at night in an urgent situation, and there was no further plan to proceed as it was confirmed that a post report was made to the Dongbu District Prosecutors’ Office.”
It is said that phrases such as “urgent circumstances at night” and “post-report of the East District Prosecutors’ Office” were in response to a request to prepare a final report including the Great Sword Anti-Corruption and Power Department and report it to the Great Swordsman. However, it is known that Han Chan-shik, the Seoul East District Prosecutor’s Office, refused after the emergency withdrawal of former vice-minister Kim, when anti-corruption chief Lee Seong-yoon asked by phone to “confirm this prosecutor’s urgent withdrawal request afterwards.”
Members of the National Assembly’s Legislative and Judicial Committee members Jo Su-jin (from left), Jeon Joo-hye, Kim Do-eup, and Yoo Sang-beom, are presenting a statement on the 21st at the National Assembly’s communication center regarding the ban on departure from the former Vice Minister of Justice Kim Hak-eui. yunhap news
Meanwhile, members of the Power of the People held a press conference at the National Assembly this afternoon and said, “At the time, the head of the anti-corruption and strong prosecutors was the pro-government-oriented Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office, Lee Seong-yoon. He argued that he was the final decision maker who stopped further investigation even after he was aware of the contents of the investigation of the illegality of the ban.”
Rep. Kim Do-eup, a secretary of the People’s Power of the National Assembly Legislative and Judicial Committee, said, “We plan to deliver this information that was received by the party in the same manner as in the first time, following the public interest report reported in the first time.”
Reporter Ha Jun-ho [email protected]