There is no Evidence for the Protection of Lee by Prosecution.

Special internal investigation units of the Supreme Public Prosecutors` Office announced Thursday that it did not find any evidence or circumstances that can support the suspicion about the protection of Lee Won-ho, the owner of K Nightclub in Cheonju-si, by a high ranking official at the Cheongju District Prosecutors` Office.

▽ The announcement of the prosecution

The prosecution announced that there was no hard evidence to lead them to believe that a senior prosecutor unduly involved in the investigation of Lee`s cases on prostitution and tax evasion, which was investigated by the former prosecutor Kim Do-hun at Cheongju District Prosecutors` Office. The prosecutor leading the special internal investigation unit said that the former prosecutor Kim seemed to have raised his suspicions based on rumors only without checking the authenticity of his information.

According to the special internal investigation unit, the former prosecutor Kim argued that the senior prosecutor ordered him to keep the record of the investigation on Lee`s charges on abetting a murder amid the investigation. But the order of the senior prosecutor, said the investigation team, could hardly be regarded as unreasonable.

Former prosecutor Kim also argued that the senior prosecutor asked him to stop the investigation of Lee`s charges on tax evasion amounting to 600 million won when he discovered the charge said the investigative team. But according to the investigation of the special internal investigative team, the senior prosecutor just gave advice on the investigation to former prosecutor Kim.

▽ The demand that suspicions over the issue should be examined closely

The hearing to examine the validity of the arrest warrant against the former prosecutor Kim was held at the Cheongju District Prosecutors` Office Thursday. The Cheongju District Prosecutors` Office sought an arrest warrant against Kim.

In the hearing, attorneys of former prosecutor Kim said that he strongly denied the charges of recording scenes using a hidden camera and that he distributed the film from it and received bribes.

Former prosecutor Kim organized his team of 30 lawyers and reported the designation these lawyers as his attorneys.

Meanwhile, there is an increasing call for the introduction of special counsel system to investigate forces within the prosecution protecting Lee Won-ho. In a meeting with the press in front of the Cheongju District Prosecutors` Office, North Chungcheong Province branch of the Democratic Labor Party argued that the "candid camera scandal" is all about providing dining and alcohol in the hope for putting an end to the investigation. The party argued that special counsel system should be introduced to find truths over forces protecting Lee within the prosecution and giving and receiving of bribes.

The director of the Anti-Corruption Network, Lee Mun-ok visited Cheongju District Prosecutors` Office and said that the protecting forces of Lee within the prosecution and the suspicions over bribe taking of Yang Kil-seung should be disclosed through the special counsel system.