ed Widening lobbying scandal
Two lawyers, who served as senior prosecutor and senior judge respectively, are facing investigations over an illegal lobbying scandal involving Jung Woon-ho, the imprisoned CEO of the popular cosmetics company Nature Republic.
Prosecutors on Tuesday raided the office and home of lawyer Hong Man-pyo. Hong is suspected of playing a ``certain’’ role in the prosecution’s probe of Jung who is currently serving an eight-month jail term for gambling abroad.
One of the suspicions is that Chung was released twice after being questioned by prosecutors on gambling charges. The prosecution also made an unusual decision to demand a sentence of two and a half years in prison in the appeals court, down from three years it demanded in the lower court. These suspicions appear significant enough to raise doubt about him peddling influence in the course of the prosecution’s investigation.
On Monday, prosecutors detained Choi You-jeong, the judge-turned-lawyer, on charges of lobbying incumbent judges to help Jung receive lighter punishment in return for billions of won in illicit legal fees.
The latest lobbying scandal came to light in late April when Choi sued Jung for physical assault. Jung reportedly twisted Choi’s arms and cursed at her during the female lawyer’s visit to him in prison. Jung allegedly demanded that Choi return the 2 billion won he paid in advance to help get him out of jail on bail after those efforts failed.
Earlier, the Korean Bar Association lodged a complaint with the prosecution, claiming that about 10 people in the legal profession, including judges and prosecutors, were suspected of being involved in the scandal.
To sum up, the two high-profile lawyers illegally lobbied incumbent judges and prosecutors who had been their colleagues to help their rich client get an acquittal or receive a lighter sentence, after accepting huge legal fees. That Hong, the senior prosecutor-turned-lawyer, earned 9.1 billion won in 2013 alone after leaving the prosecutor’s office leaves many people speechless.
Behind all this brouhaha is “jeongwanyeu,’’ an evil practice unique to Korea that would give privileged treatment to retired judges and prosecutors. The court and prosecution promised to uproot the outdated practice, but it turned out to be an empty promise.
It’s not difficult to reason why the practice lingers. Sitting judges and prosecutors expect special treatment because of who they are. The prosecution should get to the bottom of this latest scandal so that no other wealthy persons can benefit from the practice any longer.