Probes into the Previous Government on an Unprecedented Scale: More than a Dozen Cases Simultaneously Targeting Former Government Officials

On the morning of October 4, Choe Jae-hae, chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI), heads to work in the BAI building in Jongno-gu, Seoul, while the confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties intensify over the BAI’s notice requesting written answers from former President Moon Jae-in in connection to the death of a civil servant in the Yellow Sea. Yonhap News

The Board of Audit and Inspection’s (BAI) attempt to obtain written answers from former President Moon Jae-in in connection with the death of a civil servant, who was said to be killed in the Yellow Sea while attempting to defect to North Korea, has triggered an argument that investigations under the Yoon Suk-yeol government are now officially aiming at former President Moon. Some argue that investigative authorities are now openly taking action against the Moon Jae-in government and trying to tame the Democratic Party of Korea.

Currently, the police and the Prosecution Service are investigating more than a dozen major cases aimed at Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and the former government. The prosecutors’ offices and branch offices in Seoul, Suwon, Daejeon and Seongnam are busy conducting the probes. As for the investigations into the opposition party leader Lee, the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office is investigating Lee’s litigation costs believed to have been paid by the Ssangbangwool Group. The Seongnam branch office is investigating the illegal political funds related to Seongnam Football Club, and the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency is investigating the alleged favors linked to the apartment in Baekhyeon-dong and suspicions surrounding the election office in the Gyeonggi Housing & Urban Development Corporation (GH) dormitory. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office is looking into allegations of special favors linked to the development of Daejang-dong and the Wirye New Town.

There are more than a couple of investigations targeting the Moon Jae-in government as well. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office is investigating the death of the civil servant killed in the Yellow Sea and the forced repatriation of a North Korean fisherman who defected to the South. The Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office is looking into the alleged blacklist in the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Daejeon District Prosecutors’ Office is examining the economic evaluation of the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant, believed to have been manipulated. The allegations of corruption in the Moon Jae-in government, such as the solar energy project, are likely to be handled by a joint investigation team on national financial crimes, set up in the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors’ Office on September 30.

These investigations really began after the presidential election, which is why the Democratic Party suspects the prosecutors are aiming their investigations at Lee Jae-myung, and ultimately at former President Moon Jae-in. In this situation, the Board of Audit and Inspection recently attempted to question the former president. Probes into figures from the previous government after a new government enters office have practically become a tradition, but some claim that this is the first time that investigative authorities have been sweeping through the former government and the opposition party so thoroughly, as if intent on catching any single speck of dust.

The BAI’s attempt to question former President Moon in relation to the Yellow Sea case was unusual in several aspects. First, the general procedure would have been to question the former directors of the National Intelligence Service Park Jie-won and Suh Hoon, and then ultimately question the former president if the information they acquired was lacking. It is hard to understand why the BAI skipped the two directors and headed straight for the former president.

The latest incident also raised questions on the effectiveness of the audit conducted by the BAI. After the audit, the BAI is expected to ask the Prosecution Service for an investigation when sending them the audit results around October 14. But prosecutors are already investigating the Yellow Sea incident at a fierce rate, even conducting a search and seizure of the Presidential Archives. Thus, under these circumstances, what is the real benefit of the BAI requesting the Prosecution Service for an investigation? On Tuesday, one person from the legal circle said, “The prosecutors are already conducting the investigation, and the BAI is an agency that inspects public officials. I don’t understand what they are examining and what investigation they are going to request against people who served in the previous government.”

Some people claim there is a political intention to stir public opinion on the Yellow Sea incident while claiming to announce an audit result when parliamentary inspections are being conducted in the National Assembly. The commissioners of the BAI expressed their opposition to the announcement of the audit report describing the issue as one “very likely to lead to political strife,” possibly because they were concerned about such criticism.

The Yoon Suk-yeol government’s attempt to “sweep” the opposition Democratic Party and the former government is being compared with the lame investigation into the alleged stock manipulation of Deutsch Motors. Prosecutors filed charges against Kwon Oh-soo, chairman of Deutsch Motors, and Yi (Lee), a “stock manipulation expert,” last year for the stock price manipulation of Deutsch Motors, but they have yet to reach a conclusion on first lady Kim Keon-hee, believed to have provided the funds for the stock manipulation.