One Month after Lee Investigation

It has been almost a month since the Special Investigation Department of the Seoul District Public Prosecutors’ Office launched an investigation into former Seoul Mayor Lee and four charges related to him. The First Department of Public Security under the Seoul District Public Prosecutors’ Office that has been investigating cases related to Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak separate from the special investigation department seems to have sped up their work, too. With an increasing number of accusations and complaints filed amid the overheated GNP primary race, prosecutors have subpoenaed six former and incumbent lawmakers. When those who were asked questions in writing, including Lee and Park, are tallied, the number of lawmakers interrogated has added up to 15 in total so far.

Month-long investigations by prosecutors have disclosed unfounded accusations against Lee and Park. Suspicions regarding Lee’s birth and military service have been resolved. Prosecutors also analyzed the DNA of Lee’s oral tissues to find out whether GNP lawmaker Lee Sang-deuk and the former mayor are brothers by different mothers, as has been argued by Ji Mahn-weon. They consulted with an anatomist to see whether Lee’s mother is Japanese.

Some doubts on the former GNP leader have been resolved, too. An argument turned out to be false that in return for receiving an order from Park to build an auditorium of Yeungnam University when she was the school’s director, Shin Gi-soo, former CEO of Keangnam Enterprise built a house for Park in Seongbuk-dong for free. A “humiliating” picture in which Park is posing with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il during her visit to North Korea in 2002 was found out to be forged. However, because both Lee and Park have been proved to be involved in speaking ill of each other, the investigations, many say, are doing more harm than good.

Kim Hae-ho, who raised suspicions over the relationship between Park and late pastor Choi Tae-min, turned out to have received documents from the Lee camp right before he held a press conference about Park and Choi. Kim Hyeok-gyu, who accused Lee of falsely registering his address with a district office, was found out to have received resident registration copies from two people in Park’s camp. Both Park and Lee’s camps, therefore, have been dealt a blow.

Prosecutors still need to find out whether government agencies are involved in primaries of opposition parties, including whether the National Intelligence Service (NIS) ran a systematic background check on presidential hopefuls. The Special Investigation Department and the First Department of Public Security at the Seoul District Public Prosecutors’ Office are working to find out whether Goh and Park, fourth and fifth-level public officials, both interrogated by the NIS, leaked internal memos. However, it remains to be seen whether the investigations will be over before the prosecutors’ scheduled deadline of August 19, the date of the GNP primary. This is because some have refused to cooperate or have disappeared, and a court rejected a warrant, effectively delaying the investigations.

In and out of the prosecutors’ office, people say, “Instead of releasing potentially damaging reports to both Lee and Park days before the primary, it’s better that prosecutors do so after the primary.”

Prosecutor Kim Hong-il in charge of the investigation said, “We will steadfastly stand by our principle that we will unveil the truth without any political strings attached.”

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