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Prosecutor Park Sang-yong, who looked into the Ssangbangwool illegal money transfer case involving North Korea and serves as a lecturer at the Judicial Research and Training Institute, has once more refuted claims that he introduced alcohol into the investigation of Lee Hwa-young, the former vice governor of Gyeonggi Province for peace-related matters. He has asked Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho to exercise investigative command authority over the team examining these accusations.

As per a legal community source on the 27th, Prosecutor Park submitted a “request for the exercise of investigative command authority and inspection” to Minister Jung and the Ministry of Justice’s Inspection Office on the 26th. The document focused on the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office Human Rights Violation Review Task Force (TF).

Prosecutor Park noted that the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office TF sought arrest warrants for individuals associated with Ssangbangwool, including former Chairman Kim Sung-tae, without conducting an investigation into himself—the focus of the “alcohol provision inducement” accusations—and failed to review the alcohol provision during his later inquiry. He further asserted that media coverage of the TF’s investigation infringed upon the defense and personal rights of those being investigated, including himself.

Mentioning the directive issued by Minister Jung in September of last year to examine claims that alcohol was brought into the prosecution office to elicit statements from suspects—such as Lee Hwa-young—during the investigation into the North Korea remittance case, Prosecutor Park stated, “The justice minister should use his supervisory authority over the prosecution chief to ensure legal investigations by the task force and to check for any possible disclosure of confidential information.”

Minister Jung revealed the findings of an internal review in September, saying, “There are situations where individuals suspected in the illegal North Korea remittance case, including former Vice Governor Lee, along with prosecutors, consumed salmon rice and sushi with alcohol in the interrogation room on May 17, 2023,” and requested an examination. The Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office task force is currently looking into these claims, but Prosecutor Park, who looked into former Vice Governor Lee, insists, “Alcohol was never taken into the prosecutor’s office, and that is not feasible.”