The National Assembly's Special Committee for the Parliamentary Investigation into Alleged Fabricated Prosecutions by the Yoon Suk Yeol Administration's Politicized Prosecution has approved key figures as hearing witnesses, including Kim Sung-tae, former chairman of Ssangbangwool Group, in connection with the Ssangbangwool North Korea remittance case, and Kim Man-bae, Nam Wook, and Jeong Young-hak in connection with the Daejang-dong development corruption case.
The ruling and opposition parties clashed over the witness selection. The dispute intensified after additional recorded conversations were released relating to allegations that prosecutors attempted to coerce Lee Hwa-young, former Vice Governor for Peace Affairs of Gyeonggi Province.
On May 31, the special committee finalized the hearing schedule and a list of 103 witnesses for cases including the Ssangbangwool North Korea remittance case and the Daejang-dong and Wirye development corruption cases.
Witnesses approved for the Ssangbangwool North Korea remittance case include former Chairman Kim, former Vice Governor Lee, and his defense attorney Seo Min-seok. Prosecutor Park Sang-yong, who investigated the Ssangbangwool North Korea remittance case, and prosecutors Eom Hee-jun and Kang Baek-sin, who investigated the Daejang-dong and Wirye development corruption cases, were also included.
The opposition walked out of the meeting room just before the vote in protest of the ruling party's unilateral witness selection. Na Kyung-won, a lawmaker of the People Power Party, said, "Excluding former party leader Han Dong-hoon, who served as Justice Minister at the time, as a witness — despite it being essential to determining whether prosecutions were fabricated — distorts the very purpose of the parliamentary investigation." She also demanded that Kim Hyun-ji, Senior Presidential Secretary for Administrative Affairs, be called as a witness, stating, "Secretary Kim engaged in evidence destruction in the Ssangbangwool North Korea remittance case."
During the meeting, an additional recorded phone conversation between Prosecutor Park and Attorney Seo was released in connection with the allegations of coercing former Vice Governor Lee.
In the recording, Prosecutor Park was revealed to have made statements including, "If he denies [the charges], what better option is there? Wouldn't it rather start at 10 years [in prison]?" and "If he maintains his current position, we will seek a sentence of 10 years or more."
In response, the People Power Party repeatedly urged, "Release Attorney Seo's recorded conversations in full."