Ruling, opposition parties clash after first lady cleared of stock manipulation

Lawmakers of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) exchange scathing remarks over the level of impartiality of prosecutors during an audit by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee at the National Assembly, Friday. Yonhap

The ruling and opposition parties clashed, Friday, over the prosecution’s decision to clear first lady Kim Keon Hee of her alleged involvement in a stock manipulation scheme, during an audit by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee at the National Assembly.

During the audit of the Seoul High Prosecutor’s Office, lawmakers from the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) exchanged sharp remarks regarding the impartiality of prosecutors related to Kim's acquittal, including the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (SCDPO) and the Suwon District Prosecutor’s Office. The morning session was adjourned for 10 minutes.

The DPK introduced a bill mandating a special counsel investigation into the first lady for the third time after two previous bills were scrapped in a revote after President Yoon Suk Yeol vetoed them. The new bill includes recent allegations that Kim solicited help from Myung Tae-kyun, a self-proclaimed political consultant, to manipulate public opinion polls and exercise undue influence over the ruling party’s candidate nominations for the 2022 by-elections and April’s general elections.

The main opposition party also threatened to take steps to impeach Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung and SCDPO Chief Lee Chang-soo.

“Our party's leadership has decided to open impeachment proceedings against the prosecutor general and the chief of the SCDPO. The following steps and timing of the impeachment will be discussed with the floor leadership at a later date,” Rep. Jo Seoung-lae, chief spokesperson of the DPK, told reporters after a Supreme Council meeting.

The motion to impeach must be proposed by at least one-third of all the members of the Assembly and requires a concurrent vote of at least a majority of all members of the Assembly for passage. Shim could become the first top prosecutor to be impeached by the Assembly as the DPK controls 170 out of 300 seats.

This comes after the SCDPO decided, Thursday, not to indict the first lady over her alleged involvement in a stock manipulation scandal citing a lack of evidence. It concluded that Kim had not been aware that her financial accounts were being misused.

The decision came about four-and-a-half years after the prosecution began its investigation regarding accusations that Kim’s financial accounts were used to manipulate the stock price of Deutsch Motors, a BMW dealer, between 2009-2012.

Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung arrives for work at the Supreme Prosecutors Office in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap

The PPP called the DPK’s attempt to impeach the top prosecutor “unconstitutional.”

“All these actions by the DPK are blatant attempts to protect DPK leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung from his legal issues of conviction and to build up momentum to impeach the president,” Rep. Choo Kyung-ho, floor leader of the PPP, said during a party meeting.

Lee currently faces several trials, including allegations of violating election law and transferring illicit funds to North Korea. Last month, prosecutors sought a three-year prison sentence for Lee on charges of bribing a former mayoral secretary to provide false testimony in his favor in 2018. The court’s verdict on Lee's election law violation charges, is expected on Nov. 25.

On the prosecution’s decision not to indict the first lady over the stock manipulation scandal, Choo said, “I think prosecutors made considerable efforts to announce the results of the investigation according to the law and based on evidence.”

The first lady faces another investigation by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission for alleged interference in the ruling party’s candidate nominations ahead of the April 10 general elections.

Meanwhile, the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office began reexamining a lower office’s decision not to indict the first lady over her acceptance of a luxury handbag.

Following the SCDPO’s decision not to charge the first lady over her acceptance of a Dior handbag —valued at around 3 million won ($2,190) — which was given to her by Baek Eun-jong, a Korean American pastor in 2022 when he conspired with the head of the liberal YouTube news channel Voice of Seoul, filed an appeal, urging the prosecution to reverse its decision.