The second comprehensive special counsel team led by Kwon Chang-young is summoning Lee Chang-soo, former chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, in connection with allegations that prosecutors covered up an investigation into Deutsch Motors.
The special counsel announced Tuesday that it had "notified former chief prosecutor Lee Chang-soo and former Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2 chief Choi Jae-hoon to appear for questioning on charges including the preparation of false official documents." The investigation will focus on the circumstances surrounding the disposition of a case involving first lady Kim Keon-hee and the process of revising investigation reports, according to sources. The summons schedule will be determined through consultation.
The cover-up allegations center on claims that the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office issued a non-indictment decision on Kim, who had been identified as a co-conspirator, without proper review when disposing of the Deutsch Motors stock price manipulation case. The Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2, which handled the case at the time, concluded that Kim had merely entrusted account management to former Deutsch Motors Chairman Kwon Oh-soo in pursuit of profits and was unaware of the price manipulation scheme, issuing a non-indictment decision on charges of violating the Capital Markets Act.
However, suspicions arose after it was discovered that the investigation team had internally prepared a "non-indictment opinion" before the case was disposed of, and that the report had been partially revised afterward. The special counsel views the post-disposition revision of the investigation report as constituting the preparation of false official documents and has booked the former chief prosecutor Lee and former senior prosecutor Choi as suspects.
In response, Lee and others have completely denied the allegations. Their position is that they merely supplemented the report to reflect points raised in media briefings after the case was disposed of, and that they did not deliberately enter false information.
Meanwhile, the special counsel is also looking into allegations that pressure from "higher-ups" in the Yoon Suk Yeol administration influenced the prosecution's decision to clear Kim of the charges. In connection with this, prosecutors have booked former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung and others as suspects on charges of abuse of authority, and previously summoned former senior prosecutor Choi for questioning as a witness.
