Park Cheol-woo, head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, stated on the 19th that “there has been no review of the dismissal of the indictment in the case related to President Lee Jae Myung.”
Park, attending a parliamentary audit by the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the same day, answered “no” when asked by Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun of the People Power Party whether the prosecution had reviewed dismissing the indictment in the president’s case. He also responded “no” to a follow-up question on whether the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office had submitted opinions or materials related to the dismissal of the indictment to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office or the Ministry of Justice. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office is responsible for maintaining the indictment in cases involving allegations of preferential treatment in the development of Daejang-dong, Baekhyeon-dong, and Seongnam’s Wirye New Town, as well as the fatal shooting of a government official in the West Sea. Trials related to these cases have been suspended since President Lee took office in June last year.
The Ministry of Justice’s Future Committee for Respecting Prosecutorial Human Rights is investigating whether there were abuses of prosecutorial power during the investigation of these cases. Park stated that he is “not involved in the committee’s fact-finding process.” Last month, acting Prosecutor General Lee Jeong-hyun sparked controversy by saying the prosecution would “consider the committee’s findings” regarding the dismissal of the indictment in President Lee’s case.
Regarding the prosecution’s failure to forward a request for international judicial cooperation from police during the investigation into allegations of fabricated credentials involving the daughter of independent Rep. Han Dong-hoon, Park said, “Considering existing work patterns, there was something unconventional about not forwarding the request to higher authorities.”
Earlier, Rep. Han’s daughter was accused of using math problems created by someone else to produce an e-book sold for 0.99 dollars on Amazon and leveraging this as a credential. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency requested international judicial cooperation from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office in 2022, but the office decided not to forward the request to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office or the Ministry of Justice. The police closed the case without referral in December the following year.
On allegations that a prosecutor involved in the investigation into former first lady Kim Keon-hee’s Deutsch Motors stock price manipulation case continued to participate in the probe after being transferred, Park said, “I learned about it through media reports” and called it “inappropriate.” Senior prosecutor Kim Min-goo, who was part of the Deutsch Motors investigation team, was found to have participated in the probe, including face-to-face interrogations of Kim, even after being transferred to Gongju District Prosecutors’ Office in June 2024. The second special counsel indicted Kim on charges of involvement in obstructing the Deutsch Motors investigation, and the first trial is ongoing.
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