Ex-presidential policy chief questioned over alleged statistics falsification
Former Presidential Chief of Staff for Policy Jang Ha-sung / Courtesy of Embassy of Korea in China
Prosecutors questioned former presidential chief of staff for policy Jang Ha-sung on Thursday as part of an investigation into allegations that the previous Moon Jae-in government falsified official statistics on home prices and other economic subjects.
The Board of Audit and Inspection earlier announced its findings that Moon's presidential office and the land ministry exerted undue pressure on agencies responsible for statistics, compelling them to manipulate official data on income, employment and housing prices from 2017 to 2021, allegedly in support of its key economic and real estate policies.
The state audit agency also requested a prosecution investigation into 22 former government officials, including all four former presidential chiefs of staff for policy who served in the Moon government.
The Daejeon District Prosecutors Office brought in Jang for questioning on charges of abuse of authority and violations of the Statistics Act, according to officials. (Yonhap)