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| Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office in Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do. 2021.1.14/News1 © News1 Reporter Lee Jae-myeong |
It is reported that the prosecutors who are investigating the allegations of illegal emergency ban (withdrawal) against former Vice Minister of Justice Kim Hak-e have summoned and investigated the prosecutor who investigated the case of leakage of departure information in 2019.
According to law enforcement officials on the 27th, it is reported that the Suwon District Prosecutor’s Office 3rd Division (Director Prosecutor Lee Jeong-seop) summoned and investigated Mr. A, a prosecutor of the Anyang District Prosecutor’s Office, investigation team in 2019.
Prosecutor A was the main prosecutor who investigated the immigration headquarters of the Ministry of Justice at the time, and the investigation team monitored illegal withdrawal information for about 3 months from April 2019 and requested an emergency withdrawal by entering the false case number of Prosecutor Lee Gyu-won, followed by approval by Cha Gyu-geun, head of the Immigration and Foreigners Policy Division of the Ministry of Justice. And so on.
According to the second public interest report, the investigation team including Prosecutor A at the time tried to report the situation to the upper part of the investigation, as they detected the situation in which the emergency withdrawal was illegally made, and determined that the prosecutor’s actions corresponded to the preparation of false official documents and false official documents. However, the investigation was halted due to interventions such as the Prosecution Bureau of the Ministry of Justice and the Anti-Corruption Forces Department of the Supreme Swordsman.
The investigation team saw that it was necessary to investigate the Incheon Airport Information Analysis Division, the Screening Division, the Headquarters Immigration Division, officials, and the head of the Immigration Division in order to investigate the crimes in the process of illegal withdrawal. We also confirmed the need to investigate the person who delivered the withdrawal information to the prosecutor and the person who instructed the illegal emergency withdrawal request.
However, the anti-corruption ministry said, “Only investigate the process of leaking the withdrawal information to Kim Hak’s side, and do not proceed with the investigation for the rest.” Accordingly, the investigation team posted a report stating that it would no longer investigate whether the emergency withdrawal was illegal, and the investigation was terminated.
Prosecutor A rebelled against the decision at the time, and in the process, it was reported that the case was reassigned and was excluded from the investigation.
The prosecution conducted a seizure and search of the anti-corruption department on the 26th after finding the facts against Prosecutor A. The prosecution is known to have conducted a seizure search to confirm the circumstances of the investigation and external pressure of Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, Lee Seong-yoon, who was then head of the anti-corruption of the great prosecutor.
In addition, Director A of the Incheon Airport Immigration and Foreigners Office under the Ministry of Justice was also summoned as a reference, and it is known that the facts of the situation at the time were confirmed.
Regarding the summons of prosecutor A, the prosecution official said, “We are faithfully investigating the suspicion of illegal withdrawal of Kim Hak. It is difficult to confirm whether or not a specific person is subpoenaed and the details of the investigation.”