PPP Lawmaker Yoo Sang-bum, "The Police Appear to Have Confirmed Lee Jun-seok's Alleged Sex Bribe to Some Extent"

Lee Jun-seok, former leader of the People Power Party leaves the court after attending a hearing on an injunction to suspend the People Power Party’s constitution at the Seoul Southern District Court in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul on the morning of September 14. Kweon Ho-wook, Senior Reporter

On September 20, People Power Party (PPP) lawmaker Yoo Sang-bum said, “The police are investigating the case after deciding to call Lee Jun-seok in for questioning, and I believe this means they have internally confirmed the sexual bribery to some degree.” The lawmaker also mentioned rumors that Lee refused to appear before the police because of the second “text message incident” and argued that this showed that Lee was aware of the possibility that his criminal charges could be recognized.

Yoo, a former director of a prosecutors’ office, appeared on the MBC radio show, Kim Jong-bae’s Focus, this morning and when the host asked, “As for the false accusation charge against Lee Jun-seok, from the professional perspective of a former prosecutor, do you think the criminal charge will hold?” Yoo answered, “When the police or prosecutors call people holding important social positions in for questioning, they usually don’t summon them if they can’t prove the charges.” He explained, “It’s because society is likely to recognize the criminal charge just by the fact that he is being summoned.”

Lee Jun-seok is facing charges of violating the Act on the Punishment of Arrangement of Commercial Sex Acts, the acceptance of bribes for mediation stated in the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, and of instigating the destruction of evidence in connection to the allegation that he received sexual services as a bribe. Lee sued the YouTube channel, Garosero Research Institute (Gaseyeon), which first disclosed the sex bribe allegation, for libel, but a countersuit was filed claiming Lee’s lawsuit made false accusations. On September 18, the police called Lee in and questioned him for twelve hours and based on that is currently making a final legal review.

Lawmaker Yoo said, “He sued Gaseyeon, which raised the sex bribe allegation, for defamation based on false information, but if he is to be charged for making a false accusation, we need to verify the sexual bribery.” He continued and said, “So to make a professional judgment, I believe they have proven that part to some extent.” In other words, to determine whether Lee is making a false accusation, a judgment has to be made on his sex bribe allegation. The statute of limitations for the sexual bribery has expired, so Yoo believes the police can somewhat prove the false accusation charge against Lee.

The PPP lawmaker also said, “I heard rumors that Lee is refusing to go to the police due to yesterday’s coverage (text message incident), and if that’s true, that alone means he is aware of the possibility of his criminal charges being recognized. I think that is why he refuses to go, claiming something that is completely irrelevant.”

On Monday, Yoo resigned from the party’s ethics committee after news got out that he sent a text message to Chung Jin-suk, chairperson of the PPP emergency response committee, suggesting that the party expel Lee Jun-seok. In the text message, Yoo wrote, “If he is prosecuted for sexual bribery, we should also put this on the table and expel him.” He is thought to be referring to Lee, who is currently the subject of disciplinary procedures in the ethics committee.

As for the text message, Yoo said, “Based on my long experience as a prosecutor, there were judgments on several alleged sexual bribery cases, after the investigation came up with details,” and added, “So I thought this might lead to an indictment.”

Yoo, now a former member of the party’s ethics committee, expected the committee to determine the penalty the day when it reviews Lee’s case. The sex bribe investigation was already included on the grounds for disciplinary measures against Lee when the ethics committee met on September 18. Yoo said, “The ethics committee has yet to decide whether to discuss disciplinary measures against Lee Jun-seok when they gather on September 28. But if they do, they will make the decision that day.” He further said, “From what I know, the outcome of the investigation is already included (as one of the reasons for disciplinary measures) in the resolution on the launch of the disciplinary probe that we released.”

As for offensive accusations and expressions, which is another reason for disciplinary action against Lee, Yoo said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Lee state objective grounds when criticizing party members, party decisions, and especially the ethics committee,” and added, “Since these incidents keep repeating, the ethics committee resolved to take additional disciplinary action after a fierce debate.”