'Peak' Kim Keon-hee's Comprehensive Investigation Accelerates with Special Prosecutor... Pushing Forward with Remaining Allegations

[Financial News] The special prosecutor team for Kim Keon-hee (Min Jung-ki Special Prosecutor), who succeeded in securing the arrest of Kim Keon-hee, who is facing more than 16 charges including allegations of stock manipulation of Deutsche Motors, launched a comprehensive investigation just one day after her arrest. Following the first forced investigation into the alleged privileges related to the relocation of the president's official residence in Hannam-dong, the team is targeting the People Power Party with increased scrutiny. The special prosecutor team plans to focus on proving the remaining cases, excluding those where substantial investigations have already been conducted.
The special prosecutor team conducted searches and seizures from the morning of the 13th at the headquarters of the interior company 21gram located in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, the residences of related parties, other companies involved in the official residence relocation, and the residence of Kim Oh-jin, the former presidential office management secretary. The team applied charges such as violations of the Construction Industry Basic Act.
The special prosecutor team, having succeeded in arresting Kim, the 'peak' of various suspicions, immediately launched a comprehensive investigation. In particular, the team drew its sword for the first time against the 'official residence relocation privilege suspicion' that had not been previously investigated. 21gram is suspected of receiving privileges due to illegal expansion of the presidential residence in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul during the Yoon Seok-yeol administration. Additionally, Jo, the wife of the 21gram representative, is known to be an alumnus of Kim from the graduate school of Kookmin University, and it is alleged that she used this connection to secure a construction contract in exchange for sponsoring Kobana Contents.
In the case of the former secretary Kim, he was the practical manager during the official residence relocation construction and was serving as the Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Since the former secretary Kim dismissed the official residence relocation as unrelated to Kim during a parliamentary audit last October, the special prosecutor is expected to verify whether the former secretary Kim was aware of it.
To investigate these suspicions, the special prosecutor team is not only searching 21gram but also the Board of Audit and Inspection to review the audit process at the time. The Board of Audit and Inspection announced last year that 15 unqualified companies, including 21gram, participated through private contracts. However, the Board of Audit and Inspection dismissed the recommendation process and the recommender of 21gram at the time. It has been confirmed that the special prosecutor team summoned Jo last week to probe the official residence relocation suspicion. They plan to examine how 21gram was selected for the project during the relocation process, whether Kim's influence was involved, and whether Kim received money or valuables in exchange for solicitation.
In addition, the special prosecutor team has launched a forced investigation into the Yeouido headquarters of the People Power Party in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, related to the 'Geonjin Monk Solicitation Suspicion'. The team explained that the search and seizure at the People Power Party headquarters was "in cooperation for the submission of electronic data." Jeon Seong-bae, known as Geonjin Monk, is suspected of soliciting the nomination of a specific person during the 2022 local election nomination process and of enlisting a large number of Unification Church members to secure the election of pro-Yoon lawmaker Kwon Seong-dong at the party convention. In addition, since the People Power Party is suspected by the special prosecutor of being involved in the nomination through Myung Tae-kyun via the former president Yoon Seok-yeol and his wife, the special prosecutor team is believed to be conducting searches to verify multiple issues.
Meanwhile, the special prosecutor team plans to conduct a summons investigation of Kim at 10 a.m. on the 14th, two days after her arrest. The simultaneous investigations conducted by the special prosecutor team on this day are interpreted as focusing on solidifying the charges before Kim's summons. The special prosecutor team plans to conduct a broad investigation excluding the allegations of Deutsche Motors stock manipulation, Myung Tae-kyun's nomination interference suspicion, and Geonjin Monk solicitation suspicion, such as △Yangpyeong Expressway endpoint change privilege suspicion △Sambu Construction stock manipulation suspicion △Butler Gate △Official residence relocation privilege suspicion △Kobana Contents bribery suspicion.
Kim is expected to respond to the summons investigation for now. However, since Kim has not been eating since her arrest, there is also a possibility that she may not attend due to health issues. Even if Kim appears, it cannot be ruled out that she may deny most charges or exercise her right to remain silent, as she did during the summons investigation on the 6th. If such a situation continues, the special prosecutor team is also considering the possibility of indictment within the legal detention period of 20 days.


theknight@fnnews.com Jung Kyung-soo Reporter