New Seoul prosecution chief promises smooth investigation into first lady

The new chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said Thursday he will work to ensure the probe into graft allegations against the first lady proceeds without disruption after 39 senior prosecutors were reassigned earlier in the week.

Lee Chang-soo, the new chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office, responds to reporters' questions as he arrives at work for the first time on Thursday. [YONHAP]

The new chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said Thursday he will work to ensure the probe into graft allegations against first lady Kim Keon Hee proceeds without any disruption after 39 senior prosecutors were reassigned earlier in the week.

Speaking to reporters as he arrived for work, Lee Chang-soo also rejected speculation that Monday’s personnel shake-up at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office was intended to throw the probe into the first lady off course.

“Regardless of the reassignments, we will carry out our duties properly in accordance with the law,” Lee said to reporters, adding that he will “undertake every measure to ensure that there will be no disruption to the investigation” into the first lady’s affairs.

Lee also rejected the liberal Democratic Party’s characterization of him as a “pro-Yoon” prosecutor for having served as a spokesman for the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office during the president’s tenure as prosecutor general.

“That may be the term used in the political sphere, but I don’t agree with it,” he said.

When asked if prosecutors intend to summon the first lady for questioning, Lee only said that the investigative team will “conduct the probe as quickly as possible and take necessary measures if further investigation is required.”

Formerly chief of the Jeonju District Prosecutors’ Office, Lee was tapped on Monday to replace Song Kyung-ho as head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, which is regarded as the most prestigious of the state prosecution service’s regional branches.

Song’s four deputy prosecutors, who were conducting investigations into various allegations against the first lady, and key staff at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office were also reassigned as part of the reshuffle announced by the Justice Ministry on Monday, less than two weeks after Prosecutor General Lee One-seok ordered the creation of a team at the Seoul office to investigate allegations against the first lady.

Like Lee, Justice Minister Park Sung-jae also told reporters as he arrived at work on Thursday that the shake-up within the prosecution service will not affect ongoing investigations into the first lady.

But their attitudes toward the personnel changes contrasted sharply with that of the prosecutor general on Tuesday, when he appeared to struggle to respond to a question from a reporter about whether the Justice Ministry had consulted with him before reassigning 39 senior prosecutors.

Controversy surrounding the first lady has mounted since the left-leaning YouTube channel Voice of Seoul released a video in November last year showing Kim accepting a $2,200 light blue calfskin Lady Dior pouch from a Korean American pastor named Choi Jae-young, who recorded their meeting on a wristwatch given to him by the outlet.

Choi, whom prosecutors summoned earlier this week for questioning over suspicions of graft, trespassing and obstruction of official duties, said he secretly recorded himself giving the luxury handbag to Kim in order to expose the “true character” of President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife.

Voice of Seoul, which also gave Choi the pouch, filed a complaint against Yoon and the first lady on suspicions of bribery and antigraft law violations.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]