The prosecution criticized the impeachment inquiry hearing on the 23rd against Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office Deputy Chief Prosecutor Park Sang-yong, saying, “This is a retaliatory impeachment being carried out solely because Prosecutor Park investigated criminal charges related to (Democratic Party of Korea) Representative Lee Jae-myung, an impeachment that obstructs justice and seeks to pressure not only the prosecution but also the judiciary, and a bulletproof impeachment.” The Democratic Party and other opposition parties decided at the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee on that day to hold an impeachment inquiry hearing on Deputy Chief Prosecutor Park on the 2nd of next month. Deputy Chief Prosecutor Park investigated Representative Lee as a suspect in September of last year in connection with the suspicion of Ssangbangwool’s remittance to North Korea.
The Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office stated in a statement that afternoon, “The impeachment motion against Prosecutor Park proposed by the Democratic Party is based on false claims that run counter to objective facts, or on far-fetched claims that do not even specify a specific time and place and do not clarify basic facts.” The prosecution refuted each and every one of the grounds for impeachment against Deputy Chief Prosecutor Park presented by the Democratic Party, including: △claims of bribery at a drinking party, △claims of violation of separate detention of accomplices, △claims of bribery and pressure to make false statements, △claims of violation of the right to counsel, △neglect of prosecutorial duties, △publication of facts of suspicion and disclosure of official secrets, etc.
The prosecution pointed out that regarding the so-called ‘drinking bribery’ claim, “The Democratic Party is using this far-fetched claim, which even the person who recently raised the suspicion, can no longer make, as the main reason for impeachment.” Former Gyeonggi Province Peace Vice Governor Lee Hwa-young previously testified in court that “she was bribed to fabricate her statement by drinking with former Ssangbangwool Chairman Kim Sung-tae at the prosecution office.” The prosecution refuted this by disclosing the prison guards’ attendance log and other details, and that the former vice governor is changing his claims about the location and time of the drinking party and whether or not he drank alcohol.
The prosecution also said about the claim that Deputy Chief Prosecutor Park coaxed and pressured former Chairman Kim Sung-tae and others to make false statements by saying, “It is inconceivable, by common sense, that a sitting prosecutor would coax defendant Lee Hwa-young to make false statements about the leader of the Democratic Party, especially when lawyers belonging to the Democratic Party’s legal committee were present.” They added, “The ones who coaxed and pressured defendant Lee Hwa-young to change her statement and distort the substantive truth were the spouse of former Vice Governor Lee Hwa-young and members of the Democratic Party.”
Last June, the former vice governor partially admitted his connection to Representative Lee Jae-myung regarding the suspicion of remittances to North Korea during the prosecution’s investigation, but about three months later, he reversed his position, saying that it was a false statement made under pressure from the prosecution. The prosecution said, “Even though it was reported that a Democratic Party official told a close associate of the former vice governor, ‘The party will help Lee Hwa-young,’ and that the former vice governor’s spouse caused a commotion by shouting, ‘Come to your senses’ in court, the former vice governor did not respond to the persuasion, so his spouse pressured him again during a visit to the detention center in August of last year, which resulted in the former vice governor changing his statement.”
The Democratic Party believes that Deputy Chief Prosecutor Park should be impeached for coaxing and coercing former Vice Governor Lee into making false statements. On the 23rd, the Democratic Party passed the impeachment hearing bill for Deputy Chief Prosecutor Park in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee amid opposition from the People Power Party. The hearing will be held on the 2nd of next month. Deputy Chief Prosecutor Park, former Vice Governor Lee’s spouse, and former Chairman Kim Seong-tae were selected as witnesses. However, as with the impeachment hearing of Prosecutor Kim Young-chul last month, it is expected that many key witnesses will not attend. At the impeachment hearing of Prosecutor Kim, only Chief Prosecutor Im Eun-jung of the Daejeon District Prosecutors’ Office attended, leading to criticism that it was a “messy hearing.”
The prosecution strongly criticized, saying, “We hope that the impeachment process will stop even now,” and “Even taking into account the absolute status of the politician in question, the fact that a prosecutor is impeached and excluded from office for investigating his criminal activities is an unconstitutional act that directly goes against the principle of equality and separation of powers under the Constitution, and an anti-democratic act that threatens the judicial system of a democratic country.”
Reporter Cho Hye-seon, Donga.com [email protected]
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2024-09-24 00:20:54