Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s Special Committee to Investigate Allegations of Fabricated Prosecutions held institutional briefings for about 13 hours and 20 minutes on April 3 regarding the Ssangbangwool case, which centers on alleged fabrication of a prosecution related to remittances to North Korea. Lawmakers from both parties sparred over the prosecutors’ investigation and the related recordings.
The committee convened a plenary session from 10 a.m. to 11:20 p.m. and received its first institutional reports on the Ssangbangwool North Korea remittance case from the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, the Court Administration Office, and the National Intelligence Service.
At the core of the allegations is the claim that Park Sang-yong, the prosecutor who led the investigation, summoned former lawmaker Lee Hwa-young—who served as deputy governor for peace when President Lee Jae-myung was Gyeonggi provincial governor—and former Ssangbangwool chairman Kim Sung-tae in May 2023, provided salmon sashimi and soju, and pressured them to say the president had been involved in the remittance process.
The Democratic Party released additional recordings and raised the possibility that the prosecution had fabricated charges.
Democratic lawmaker Jeon Yong-gi disclosed a recording of a phone call between Park and defense attorney Seo Min-seok, who represented former deputy governor Lee Hwa-young.
According to Jeon, the tape captures Park saying, "There will be two more," suggesting the possibility of applying additional charges.
The recording also reportedly contains Park saying: "Whether it’s a third-party bribe or a direct bribe, we’ll name co-conspirators alongside Lee Jae-myung (the president). Abuse of authority will be listed as a co-conspirator too. If we indict on that basis, the case will become so large that it cannot be properly resolved at trial; after a while, they’ll be released."
By contrast, the People Power Party pushed back, calling the released excerpts selectively edited to favor the ruling party and demanding the full transcripts be made public.
People Power lawmaker Shin Dong-wook said the full picture will only emerge if all the recordings that Seo’s lawyer revealed are played in full. "I don’t understand why only edited portions were provided to media outlets—are they trying to shape public opinion in advance?" he asked.
Shin added that for the committee to operate effectively, it cannot accept repeated demands for only documents or materials that benefit the ruling party.
Park Sang-yong, deputy chief prosecutor at the Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office who led the probe, appeared as a witness at the afternoon briefing but refused to take the oath, submitted a seven-page written statement, and left after 38 minutes.
The committee voted to summon Park again as a witness for a comprehensive hearing on the Ssangbangwool alleged North Korea remittance fabrication prosecution on April 14. It also approved additional summonses for prosecutors Ko Doo-seong and Ahn Byung-soo, who are associated with the case.
The committee will receive institutional reports on the Daejang-dong and Wirye new town cases on April 7, and on April 9 it will hear reports on the West Sea public-official shooting and allegations of manipulated real estate and other statistics.
The committee plans hearings on the Ssangbangwool case on April 14; on April 16 it will examine the Daejang-dong and Wirye new town cases alongside allegations involving former Democratic Research Institute deputy director Kim Yong; and on April 21 it will hold a hearing on the West Sea shooting, followed by a comprehensive hearing on April 28.
