hankyoreh

President Yoon Suk-yeol and first lady Kim Keon-hee deplane from the presidential jet upon arriving at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam on Aug. 12, 2024. (Yonhap)

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office’s handling of its investigation of alleged manipulation of Deutsch Motors stock prices by first lady Kim Keon-hee is coming under increased scrutiny as the question of whether to indict her in connection with her acceptance of a luxury handbag as a gift is reviewed by the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office investigation review committee.

The investigation team appears set to reach a conclusion after the appellate judgment on Sept. 12 for the former Deutsch Motors chairperson, Kwon Oh-soo — the principal figure in the stock price fraud case. This means that the investigation is very likely to be concluded after Lee One-seok ends his term as prosecutor general next month. 

The second anti-corruption investigation division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office was reported on Monday to have largely concluded its investigation of 91 people whose bank accounts were used for the stock price manipulations.

One of the accounts used was that of Choi Eun-sun, President Yoon Suk-yeol’s mother-in-law. In the first trial, the court determined that one of Choi’s accounts was a borrowed-name bank account belonging to Kwon.

Under the circumstances, Choi would inevitably face questioning by prosecutors — but they were found to have not yet questioned her.

Unlike the luxury handbag case, the investigation into the Deutsch Motors case is not subject to direction by the prosecutor general, which means that Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office chief Lee Chang-su would be able to reach a conclusion on it. Lee is seen by many as a “pro-Yoon” figure.

Observers in the legal and political worlds have observed that with Yoon having had his authority to direct and supervise investigations taken away for four years while serving as prosecutor general, his successor would have had an obligation to restore it.

If prosecutors decide not to press charges against Kim in the stock price manipulation case in a situation where the prosecutor general does not hold authority to supervise or direct investigations, the result could be a repeat of the same controversy over the fairness of the investigation seen in the handbag case.

The outcome of the appellate judgment on Sept. 12 is another focus of interest.

After a financier surnamed Son was acquitted in the first trial on charges related to the Deutsch Motors case, prosecutors amended their indictment to include preliminary charges of aiding and abetting. If those charges are recognized in Son’s case, the situation could have an impact on the handling of other account owners, including Kim Keon-hee.

The appellate court also plans to examine potential legal violations in individual orders for a period where the first court ruled to acquit on the basis of the statute of limitations.

Kim’s team has acknowledged that she entrusted her account to a key figure in the stock price manipulations — identified by the surname Lee — during this same period. If a guilty verdict is handed down for the period previously regarded as past the statute of limitations, this raises the chances of the charges against Kim also being recognized.

By Jeong Hye-min, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]