Advisory board to decide on direction of Kangwon probe
Prosecutor General Moon Moo-il
By Kim Hyun-bin
An advisory board meeting was held at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on Friday to review the controversial handling of the ongoing investigation for hiring irregularities at Kangwon Land.
The advisory committee consists of outside experts including four lawyers and three law professors that have over 10 years of experience dealing with such matters.
Kangwon Land, state-owned casino, has come under increasing criticism for improper hiring practices that have been allegedly linked to Rep. Kweon Seong-dong of the Liberty Korea Party (LKP).
Kim Woo-hyun, the head of the anti-corruption department at the Supreme Prosecutors Office, allegedly exerted pressure on Ahn Mi-hyun, a prosecutor who had investigated the case while working at the Chuncheon District Prosecutors' Office last year.
Ahn requested a summons for an aide of Rep. Kweon on Dec. 14, but Kim did not report to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and questioned the legitimacy of the summons. Kim allegedly received a call from Kweon who said the investigation is problematic and claimed the summons deviated from the procedures.
On Oct. 20, the investigative team also requested to search the suspects' homes linked to the hiring scandal, but was postponed by Kim. The anti-corruption department acknowledges the postponement, but questioned if the act could be classified as abuse of authority.
After conducting a hearing involving both sides, the advisory committee will hold a vote on whether to indict Kim and Choi Jong-won, head of the Seoul Nambu District Public Prosecutors' Office, for abuse of power.
The prosecution team investigating the probe also clashed with Prosecutor General Moon Moo-il over the arrest of the lawmaker and indictments of senior prosecutors.
Moon denied all accusations that he exerted pressure to impede the investigation.
The investigative team, led by the head of the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office, Yang Bu-nam, reported to the top prosecutor to seek a warrant from the court to arrest Rep. Kweon, but it was not approved. Instead, Moon ordered Yang's team to set up an advisory panel to determine the probe's next course.
The prosecutor's probe was started after a recently revealed case that there had been pressure by the head of the regional prosecutor's office not to seek an arrest warrant of those involved.
The investigative team held a press conference, claiming Moon blocked their move to seek arrest warrants.
In February, prosecutor Ahn Mee-hyun first raised an allegation against the alleged intervention in the Kangwon Land investigation.
The Supreme Prosecutors' Office denied the allegation at the time, saying there would be no outside pressure, even from Prosecutor General Moon.