DPK proposes special counsel probe into prosecution's alleged manipulation of N. Korea remittance case

Lee Jae-myung, center, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea receives questions from reporters upon arriving at Seoul Centeral District Court in Seoul, May 31. Yonhap

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) on Monday proposed a bill mandating a special counsel probe into allegations of prosecutorial manipulation in connection with an investigation into a South Korean company's alleged smuggling of foreign currency into North Korea.

Ssangbangwool Group, a South Korean underwear company, is accused of transferring $8 million to North Korea via China on behalf of Gyeonggi Province in 2019, when the current DPK leader Lee Jae-myung was its governor.

The DPK has claimed that the case requires a reinvestigation by the independent counsel to see whether the prosecution has turned a stock manipulation case involving the company into a politically charged case and was targeting Lee from the beginning.

The party also stressed the need for the investigation as former Gyeonggi Province Vice Gov. Lee Hwa-young in April raised claims that he was coaxed by former Ssangbangwool Chairman Kim Sung-tae to fabricate a statement on his involvement in the company's unauthorized remittance to North Korea while drinking alcohol together at a prosecution office under the guard of prison officers.

A special committee of the DPK held a press conference earlier in the day and accused the prosecutors of conducting "illegal investigations, coercing testimonies and fabricating evidence."

The committee added that this "would be the first case to have an independent counsel investigate misconduct of prosecutors while investigating." (Yonhap)