Prime Suspects Suspected of Playing Scrabble

The third son of President Kim Dae-Jung, Hong-Gul, announced he would show up at the prosecution at two P.M. on May 16, disobeying the summoning notice of the prosecution to come in the afternoon on May 15.

The second special investigative office of the Seoul District Public Prosecutor`s Office disclosed on May 15, “We have informed Hong-Gul`s defense lawyer Cho Seok-Hyun to let Hong-Gul appear before the prosecution in the afternoon of the day whatever the position of Hong-Gul’s side may be.”

However, defense lawyer Cho called the prosecution at 11:30 A.M. on May 15 and expressed intention to appear before the prosecution at two A.M. on May 16, saying, “As Hong-Gul suffers from jet lag and travel fatigue, it is impossible to keep up with the notice.”

Accordingly, suspicion was raised that Hong-Gul delayed the time of the call-in to fine-tune his statement with the related persons involved in the scandals before going to the prosecution.

Hong-Gul allegedly met with defense lawyer Cho and others in a place presumed to be a safe house, discussed the matter of the appearance at the prosecution, and prepared measures against the investigation of the prosecution.

In other hand, the prosecution exposed, “If the summoning is delayed, unnecessary misunderstanding may follow suit, so we asked to appear as soon as possible, but we would not take measures to enforce the summoning.”

The prosecution added, “There will be no special treatment for the president`s son including the summoning procedure, and the summoning and the investigation will be progressed according to the regular procedures.”

When he appears, the prosecution plans to question Hong-Gul mainly on the allegations of receiving one billion Won in return for influence peddling. The prosecution has gathered evidences from the testimonies of the related persons and through the account trace tracking and other methods that Hong-Gul received more than two billion Won through the CEO of Future City Environment, Choi Kyu-Sun, and that one billion Won of the total was gotten in return for the influence peddling.

The prosecution is going to issue the arrest warrant against Hong-Gul as early as on May 18, in charge of receiving briberies in return for influence peddling for violation of the Specified Crimes Aggravated Punishment Act.

Myoung-Gun Lee Sang-Rok Lee gun43@donga.com · myzodan@donga.com