Lee Hwa-young, prosecutor and Ssangbangwool employee… Kim Seong-tae, who was accused of drinking alcohol, was actually removed.

Lee Hwa-young, former vice-governor of Gyeonggi Province, who is accused of ‘Ssangbangwool’s illegal remittance to North Korea’, filed a complaint to the police on the 25th, requesting that the investigating prosecutor and Ssangbangwool employees be investigated in relation to the suspicion of ‘prosecution party cajoling’.

It is said that he violated the law by purchasing alcohol and snacks such as soju and bringing in prohibited items with the prosecutor’s permission and connivance. However, Kim Seong-tae, former chairman of Ssangbangwool Group, who was pointed out as the person responsible for encouraging drinking, did not file a complaint.

On this day, lawyer Kim Gwang-min, former vice-governor Lee’s lawyer, said, “Prosecutor A and Ssangbangwool employees, who were in charge of the investigation of remittances to North Korea, were accused of violating Article 133 (Introduction of Prohibited Goods) Paragraph 2 of the ‘Act on the Execution of Sentences and Treatment of Prisoners'” “I did it,” he said. In the complaint, Attorney Kim said, “The defendant, Ssangbangwool employee B, and Ssangbangwool employees whose names are unknown, received a request from Kim Seong-tae at Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office 1313 around 4-6 p.m. on the Buddhist memorial day in May-June of last year and with the permission or connivance of the investigating prosecutor, Mr. A. He said, “I bought soju and other alcoholic beverages and snacks from the Buddhist temple and delivered them to Kim Seong-tae.” Attorney Kim said, “The defendants brought in prohibited goods by providing alcohol to inmates, including Kim Seong-tae, who were imprisoned at the Suwon Detention Center. This was providing unimaginable preferential treatment to the inmates.”

With this accusation from former Vice-Governor Lee, the police are looking into the suspicions of prosecutorial drinking.

Attorney Kim issued a statement to the media and said, “We request that the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office, the suspect, no longer be involved in the drinking scandal,” and added, “If you are confident that defendant Lee Hwa-young is lying, reveal the truth through an investigation into false accusations.” Attorney Kim also said, “Defendant Lee Hwa-young expressed her willingness to ‘accept the punishment of false accusation’ if her claims were false.”

In the legal world, there is also talk that the ‘violation of the Execution of Punishments Act’ advocated by former Deputy Governor Lee is an excessive interpretation of the law. The law stipulates punishment for bringing items such as alcohol into a ‘correctional facility’, but is the ‘video recording investigation room in Suwon District Prosecutor’s Office Room 1313’, which former Deputy Governor Lee pointed out as a place where drinking parties were solicited, really considered a correctional facility? The question is, can you see it? According to this law, correctional facilities are defined as ‘prisons, detention centers, and their branches.’

Meanwhile, former Deputy Governor Lee repeatedly raised suspicions about drinking parties and overturned his claims several times regarding the location and time of drinking, whether he was drinking, and whether prison guards were present. In response, the prosecution is directly contradicting this by releasing materials such as military attendance records, video recording investigation room photos, and court transcripts. Regarding the suspicions raised by former Deputy Governor Lee, the prosecution said, “He must be held accountable for collapsing the national criminal justice system by lowering the public’s trust in criminal justice with false facts and claims.”