Four assistant counsels named to investigate Park Geun-hye scandal
Four lawyers appointed as assistant counsels to investigate the influence-peddling scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her friend Choi Soon-sil speak to reporters at the office of Park Young-soo, the special prosecutor in charge of the team, in southern Seoul, Monday. They are, from left, Lee Yong-bok, Park Choong-kun, Yang Jae-sik and Lee Kyu-chul. / Yonhap
By Kim Se-jeong
President Park Geun-hye has named four lawyers as assistant counsels for the special prosecutor’s team to investigate the corruption and influence-peddling scandal involving herself and her confidante Choi Soon-sil.
They are Lee Yong-bok, Park Choong-kun, Yang Jae-sik and Lee Kyu-chul. Lee Kyu-chul is a former judge, while the others are former prosecutors.
They will assist special prosecutor, Park Young-soo, who the President picked from among two candidates last week. While Park Young-soo will administer the entire investigation against the President, the four assistants will take charge of each major allegation.
Including them, the size of the team will reach around 100, including 20 incumbent prosecutors dispatched by the Ministry of Justice.
Lee Yong-bok was a member of another independent counsel team investigating the DDoS cyber attack allegedly by North Korea one day before the National Assembly elections in 2012.
Park Choong-kun has a record of handling tough crimes involving gang members and drugs, and was also a member of a different independent counsel team for Seoul’s money transfer to Pyongyang ahead of the inter-Korea summit in 2000.
Yang Jae-sik is a longtime colleague with the special prosecutor, both currently working at a law firm in Gangnam. Lee Kyu-chul also worked with the special prosecutor at another law firm previously.
With people in place, the independent counsel has jumpstarted the preliminary investigation, reviewing documents transferred from the prosecution.
By law, the team can have 20 days of preparation prior to an official investigation which can last up to 100 days. It pledged to bring about bribery charges against the President for forcing conglomerates to fund Choi’s two foundations. It will also uncover what the President did during a seven-hour absence from official duty on the day of Sewol ferry disaster on April 16, 2014.