[Anchor]
South Korea’s Democratic Party released audio recordings related to the Ssangbangwool remittances-to-North Korea case.
The party says prosecutors manipulated testimony to implicate Lee Jae-myung and is pushing a parliamentary investigation to uncover the full facts.
Reporter Moon Seung-wook reports.
[Reporter]
In June 2023, shortly after former Vice Governor Lee Hwa-young testified that he had told then-Governor Lee Jae-myung a third party had covered his trip to North Korea, a recording of a conversation between then-investigating prosecutor Park Sang-yong and Lee’s defense attorney was released.
「Recording of Prosecutor Park Sang-yong (June 19, 2023)」 We can only do that if Lee Jae-myung is made the ringleader and that person is treated as an accomplice—if there's a confession like that…
The Democratic Party cites the recording as evidence that Prosecutor Park took part in unlawfully manufacturing testimony and fabricating charges to tie Governor Lee to the case.
In the recording, Park also discusses matters directly affecting the defendant’s status, such as bail or suspending additional warrants; the Democratic Party calls those comments improper attempts to coax a statement from the former vice governor.
「Kim Dong-ah/Democratic Party lawmaker」 The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials must immediately open an investigation into Prosecutor Park Sang-yong. We must swiftly pursue impeachment proceedings against him.
Prosecutor Park dismissed the claims as baseless and immediately countered that the defense attorney had initially proposed treating the former vice governor as an accomplice.
Democratic members of the special parliamentary committee probing alleged fabricated prosecutions accused investigators of writing the conclusion first and tailoring testimony to fit it. They vowed to pursue a thorough probe and hold all participants accountable under the law.
They also announced plans to inspect Room 1,313 at the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office—the location identified in the so-called “salmon-and-drinks” party allegations—and other relevant sites.
「Lee Geon-tae/Democratic Party lawmaker」 On April 9, we plan to inspect Room 1,313 at the Suwon Prosecutors' Office, the video-recorded interrogation room, and the space known as the 'warehouse'…
On the same day, the committee plans to visit the detention area at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, the location where lawyer Nam Wook—linked to the Daejang-dong private-sector developer case—says prosecutors threatened to cut him open.
The committee will adopt ordinary witnesses and begin agency briefings this week, then launch a series of hearings starting on the 14th of next month with the North Korea remittance case, followed by Daejang-dong, the Wirye new town, the West Sea shooting incident and others.
This is Moon Seung-wook for Yonhap News TV.
[Video reporting: Park Tae-beom]
[Video editing: Ham Seong-woong]
[Graphics: Kim Se-yeon]
[News review]
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Moon Seung-wook (winnerwook@yna.co.kr)
