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Rival Parties Agreed on Independent Counsel for Lee Yong-Ho Gate

Rival Parties Agreed on Independent Counsel for Lee Yong-Ho Gate

Posted November. 17, 2001 11:30,   

한국어

The rival parties reached an agreement on the issues of the bill to introduce the independent counsel system for the investigation of Chairman of the G & G group Lee Yong-Ho`s stock price manipulation case, in a floor leaders` meeting on 16th. The bill will be passed in the Assembly`s plenary session on 22nd.

After the passing of the bill, the special prosecutor will be appointed and the investigation will be started from the beginning of December.

Former Director of the NIS economy section Kim Hyong-Yoon, who had protected by the NMDP to exclude from the subject of the independent counsel`s investigation, became specified as a subject of the investigation. Thus the special prosecutor is likely open an investigation on the NIS.

In the floor leaders meeting, Lee Sang-Soo and Lee Jae-Oh decided the subject of the investigation as ▲ Lee Yong-Ho`s cases of stock price manipulation and embezzlement ▲ the suspicious lobby cases of Lee Yong-Ho, Yu Woon-Hwan, and Kim Hyong-Yoon etc. ▲ the prosecution`s concealment cases about the petitions, charges, and indictments in relation to the above two cases.

They agreed on a 10-day preparation period and a 60-day of investigation period, and it could be extended 30-day for the first extension and 15-day more for the second one, if it is necessary. Including the two times of extension, the investigation will be closed in next March. The President will appoint the special prosecutor among the two candidates, that the Korean Bar Association recommended.

The rival parties also agreed to allow the special prosecutor`s mid-term announcement of the investigation results. The special prosecutor will have two assistant prosecutors, and if a witness does not respond to the prosecutor`s first summon, the prosecutor can perform the order of summon. The assistant prosecutor for the independent counsel of the `cloth lobby` was only one.

However, about the `Jin Seung-Hyun Gate` and `Jung Hyun-Jun Gate` the rival parties have different opinions. While Lee Sang-Soo said that these are not the cases for the independent counsel, Lee Jae-Oh claimd that, if suspicion arises, they could be the subjects of the investigation.



Jong-Koo Yoon jkmas@donga.com