Police Question Complainants Seo Young-kyo over 'False Complaint Naming Park Sang-yong' and Yong Hye-in over 'Having Aides Care for a Baby'

[Financial News] Police are stepping up investigations into allegations that Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Seo Young-kyo cited a false precedent in a complaint against prosecutor Park Sang-yong and that Basic Income Party lawmaker Yong Hye-in had her aides care for a baby.
Seoul Yeongdeungpo Police Station summoned former Seoul City Council member Lee Jong-bae at around 2 p.m. on the 17th and questioned him as the complainant. Lee had previously filed a complaint against Seo for preparing false official documents and obstructing the execution of official duties, and against Yong for abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of rights.
The case involving Seo stemmed from the process in which the National Assembly Special Committee of Inquiry into Alleged Fabricated Indictments by the Political Prosecution under the Yoon Suk Yeol Administration, which she chaired, filed a complaint against Park Sang-yong, a deputy chief prosecutor at the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office.
Park appeared before the special committee as a witness in April in connection with the alleged "salmon drinking party" that emerged during the investigation into the Ssangbangwool remittances-to-North Korea case, but he refused to take an oath. The special committee subsequently filed a complaint in May, claiming that Park had insulted the National Assembly by refusing to take the oath without justifiable grounds.
The complaint stated, "According to ruling 2009Do10645 handed down by the Supreme Court of Korea on January 14, 2010, the right to refuse to testify under the Criminal Procedure Act cannot constitute grounds for refusing to take the oath itself." However, the cited ruling was found to have been issued in a case involving a violation of the Labor Standards Act that was unrelated to a refusal to take an oath.
Before the questioning, Lee said, "Park's refusal to take the oath was a legitimate act in accordance with the law and procedures." He added, "The complaint led by the special committee under Seo was character assassination and an unprecedented witch hunt designed to intimidate and humiliate a sitting prosecutor with a shoddy complaint in order to have the prosecution withdrawn."
Seo and the Democratic Party of Korea, however, maintain that there was no problem with the basis of the complaint because current law contains provisions penalizing refusal to take an oath.
Meanwhile, a complaint was filed against Yong over allegations that she instructed her aides to provide childcare after bringing her child to the National Assembly in July 2021.
Lee explained, "As Yong had been nominated as a candidate for minister of gender equality and family, she was required to meet high standards of morality and integrity. I filed the complaint after determining that the allegation that she had her aides care for her baby constituted an abuse of authority."
He also said, "She should resign her seat," adding, "At the time, Yong said, 'Aides ask me to post lots of photos of the baby, saying that the child is a vitamin when they are having a hard time,' but it is difficult for her to serve as a lawmaker with judgment so clouded by a sense of privilege that she cannot even distinguish abuse of power."
Yong, who resigned on the 13th as a candidate for minister of gender equality and family, has also been the subject of complaints over allegations including paying her spouse's salary with political funds and using a VIP airport lounge.

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