Comprehensive Special Prosecutor Team Conducts Additional Searches of Supreme Prosecutors' Office and Ministry of Justice Over Alleged Cover-Up of Kim Keon Hee Probe
- Input
- 2026-07-27 16:07:45
- Updated
- 2026-07-27 16:07:45
At a regular briefing on the 27th at the special prosecutor's office in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, Assistant Special Prosecutor Kim Ji-mi said, "We are conducting searches of the Ministry of Justice, the SPO and the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in connection with the alleged cover-up of the Deutsche Motors case." The search targets include the computers and messenger accounts used by then Justice Minister Park Sung-jae and the head of the Ministry of Justice's criminal planning division, as well as the prosecution's integrated information network server that stores the case records of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's anti-corruption investigation unit 2.
Kim added, "This search is intended to determine whether the Ministry of Justice, the Office of the President, or Kim's side intervened in the decision not to indict Kim Keon Hee, and to trace changes in the investigation records of the anti-corruption unit 2 at the time."
The alleged "prosecutorial cover-up" refers to claims that when the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office handled the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation case, it issued a non-indictment decision for Kim Keon Hee, who had been named as an accomplice, without carrying out a proper investigation. The anti-corruption investigation unit 2, which handled the case, cleared her of violating the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act, saying she had only entrusted account management to former Deutsche Motors chairman Kwon Oh-soo, the head of a listed company, and was unaware of the market manipulation scheme.
The special prosecutor team is reportedly suspicious that senior prosecutors, including former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung, improperly intervened in deciding to question Kim Keon Hee through an on-site interview rather than a summons and in clearing her of charges. Earlier, the team also searched the SPO and the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in March and April to secure related materials for the investigation.
Meanwhile, the team said it had sought the opinion of the Special Prosecutor's Team for Insurrection, led by Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-seok, to decide whether to indict former Republic of Korea Army Capital Defense Command 1st Security Group commander Cho Sung-hyun, who is suspected of involvement in the insurrection. The team is investigating him on charges of participating in a key duty related to insurrection, focusing on his alleged role in relaying former commander Lee Jin-woo's order to deploy to the National Assembly to the 2nd Special Task Battalion and the 35th Special Task Battalion.
By contrast, the Special Prosecutor's Team for Insurrection, which first investigated the case, decided not to file charges, saying Cho initially responded passively to Lee's orders and eventually refused to carry them out. Since the two special prosecutor teams reached different conclusions, the Second Comprehensive Special Prosecutor Team plans to decide on the final indictment after consultations with the insurrection team.
Under the revised comprehensive special prosecutor law that passed the State Council of South Korea on the 21st, the special prosecutor team must consult the existing special prosecutor teams on matters that could overturn their decisions or affect the maintenance of indictments. Assistant Special Prosecutor Kim added that the team had asked the insurrection team to share a list of cases that were not indicted in order to identify matters requiring further consultation.
[email protected] Kim Dong-gyu Reporter