Ex-vice minister tied to sex scandal to face new probe soon
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Former Vice Justice Minister Kim Hak-ui. / Yonhap
By Kim Jae-heun
By Kim Jae-heun
The prosecution is moving toward reopening an investigation into a sex scandal involving former Vice Justice Minister Kim Hak-ui after allegations surfaced that a former administration interfered with the initial probe six years ago.
Prosecutors banned Kim from leaving the country Friday after he was found attempting to leave for Thailand from Incheon International Airport, according to the justice ministry.
The former vice minister retired from public service in March 2013 amid allegations that he was invited to and attended a sex party hosted by building contractor Yoon Jung-cheon at his villa in Wonju, Gangwon Province, in return for business favors.
Citing a police source, local broadcaster KBS reported Saturday that the superintendent at the National Police Agency (NPA) who was in charge of the investigation received a phone call from Cheong Wa Dae in late March 2013 followed a few days later by a visit from an official at Cheong Wa Dae civil affairs office.
At the time, an official investigation had yet to be launched and the NPA had only obtained a video showing a group of men, allegedly including Kim, attending a sex party.
Cheong Wa Dae appointed Kim as the new vice justice minister, March 13, but media reports of his participation in the “drunken orgy” forced him to resign six days later, although he denied the allegations.
However, before Kim's resignation, the NPA commissioner general at the time, Kim Ki-yong, tendered his resignation to then President Park Geun-hye in April, after the superintendent and his team of investigators were reassigned.
The reassignment of the investigative team just after it had begun its probe was considered highly suspicious. The transfer of the superintendent was in fact a de facto demotion as he was posted to a regional office of the NPA.
Rumors circulated at the time that Cheong Wa Dae had made an example of the police officers for “interfering' in its selection of a high ranking government official in the early term of President Park.
A key staff members at the presidential civil affairs office had reportedly expressed his displeasure at the police.
After a four-month investigation, the new investigative team sent its results to the prosecution recommending the ex-vice minister be indicted for on charges of sexual assault. However, prosecutors dismissed the case citing a lack of evidence.
The scandal has resurfaced following the recommendation of a special panel at the justice ministry looking into allegations of judicial cover-ups in past cases. It said there were irregularities in the charges against Kim being dropped.
President Moon Jae-in also called last week for a thorough re-investigation into this and other suspicious cases, and placed Interior and Safety Minister Kim Boo-kyum and Justice Minister Park Sang-ki in charge of the process.