▲ Park Chul-woo, Chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, answers lawmakers' questions during a parliamentary audit of the Seoul Metropolitan Prosecutors' Office and other agencies held by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 19th.
Park Chul-woo, Chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, strongly denied rumors of a rift between leadership and the investigative team regarding the delayed decision on MBK Partners Chairman Kim Byung-joo during a parliamentary audit held by the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee today (the 19th).
Responding to a question from Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Lee Sung-kyung regarding the status of the investigation into Chairman Kim, Chief Park stated, "After the arrest warrant was dismissed once early this year, the case was reassigned to a new department, and a substantial amount of supplementary investigation has been conducted."
He added, "Recognizing the gravity of the case due to the extensive damages incurred, we requested an arrest warrant for [Chairman Kim], but the court dismissed it on the grounds of insufficient proof of allegations," explaining that "the case was reassigned to review it from a fresh perspective."
When Lawmaker Lee mentioned media reports suggesting that while the investigative team considered indicting Chairman Kim, a non-indictment opinion was reported to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Chief Park dismissed the claims, stating, "It is certain that the opinions of the current investigative team and the head of the agency are in complete agreement."
While noting that "it is difficult to discuss internal decision-making processes," Chief Park claimed, "I suspect there may be someone behind the scenes driving reports that suggest our opinions do not align."
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office is investigating fraud allegations against the management of MBK Partners, the controlling shareholder of Homeplus.
The allegations center on Chairman Kim Byung-joo and other executives issuing 82 billion won worth of asset-backed short-term bonds (ABSTB) while concealing expectations of a credit rating downgrade for Homeplus.
Following the dismissal of arrest warrants for the suspects in January, prosecutors reassigned the investigative department to continue supplementary investigations. However, a final decision on indictment has not yet been reached, and the prosecution service has taken over to review the case.
The prosecution plans to reach a decision before the deadline of December 30.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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