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🇰🇷 South Korea /Elections & Politics

“Yoon Suk-yeol Orchestrated Manipulation”: 4 Pieces of Evidence, Demand for Justice with Standards for Dropping Charges [Nonsul]

From Hankyoreh · (5m ago) Korean Critical tone

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • A South Korean parliamentary investigation concluded, presenting evidence of alleged manipulation and fabrication of charges by prosecutors under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.
  • Key findings include an audio recording suggesting pressure to testify against Lee Jae-myung and altered transcripts to link him to a corruption case.
  • The investigation also revealed alleged direct reporting of investigation details to the presidential office and manipulation of military reports regarding a public official's death.

The Hankyoreh TV's 'Nonsul' program has presented a damning indictment of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's prosecution service, alleging a systematic campaign of manipulation and fabrication of charges. The parliamentary investigation, concluding after 41 days, has brought to light what the program terms 'evidence of manipulation command' by Yoon himself.

The parliamentary investigation into the alleged fabricated charges by the political prosecution of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration has concluded, adopting its results report.

— Son Won-jeIntroduction to the 'Nonsul' segment discussing the parliamentary investigation's findings.

Central to the allegations are recordings and testimonies suggesting that prosecutors pressured witnesses in the 'Sangsangul North Korea remittance' case to implicate Lee Jae-myung, the then-presidential candidate and now president. The program highlights an audio file where a prosecutor allegedly offered leniency in exchange for testimony labeling Lee as the 'main culprit.' Furthermore, a second investigation team allegedly coerced testimony to link President Lee to the 'Daejang-dong' corruption case, with evidence suggesting deliberate alteration of transcripts to achieve this goal.

The audio file of prosecutor Park Sang-yong, who was in charge of the 'Sangsangul North Korea remittance' case, mentioning leniency and the possibility of investigating those around him, and pressuring for testimony that Lee Jae-myung was the 'main culprit,' has been released.

— Son Won-jeHighlighting evidence of alleged witness coercion in the North Korea remittance case.

The 'Nonsul' program emphasizes the gravity of these revelations, particularly the alleged daily reporting of the North Korea remittance investigation to the presidential office. This, the program argues, fundamentally undermines prosecutorial independence and suggests the prosecution acted as a 'subcontracted investigation agency' for the president's political rivals. The alleged manipulation of military reports concerning the 'West Sea public official's death' further fuels these accusations, with claims that a presidential aide directly altered findings to suggest the official's 'North Korean defection' was not the case.

The second investigation team for the Daejang-dong case coerced testimony to link President Lee Jae-myung as an accomplice.

— Son Won-jeDescribing alleged prosecutorial misconduct in the Daejang-dong case.

From the perspective of The Hankyoreh, a progressive South Korean daily, these findings are not mere procedural irregularities but a profound betrayal of justice and democratic principles. The program calls for a special prosecutor to thoroughly investigate these allegations, asserting that the integrity of the legal system and the public's trust in it are at stake. The framing suggests a deep-seated concern that the current administration has weaponized state institutions for political persecution, a narrative that resonates strongly with a segment of the South Korean public critical of the current government.

This was an act that sufficiently meets the criteria for the crime of distorting the law, which was recently enacted.

— Yang Boo-namA Democratic Party lawmaker commenting on the alleged prosecutorial misconduct.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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