It is known that the Marine special counsel summoned actor Park Sung-woong last month as a reference for questioning. Park reportedly said during the questioning that he had "had a meal with former Division Commander Lim Sung-geun."
According to the legal community on the 17th, the special counsel secured a statement from Park last month that "in 2022 at a certain place in Gangnam, Seoul, I ate with former Black Pearl Invest CEO Lee Jong-ho, former Division Commander Lim, and others."
During the questioning at the time, Park is said to have noted, "I already knew former CEO Lee, and that was the first time I saw former Division Commander Lim."
Initially, former Division Commander Lim and former CEO Lee's side had claimed they did not know each other. But Park's statement directly contradicts that.
Regarding Park's statement, an attorney for former CEO Lee's side said, "It is true that Park and former CEO Lee had a meal, but former Division Commander Lim was not there," and argued, "We suspect this may be a false statement."
When he appeared before the special counsel in Aug., former Division Commander Lim said of former CEO Lee, "I have no acquaintance with that person, and I learned of that person's existence through the media."
Meanwhile, the special counsel is investigating allegations of a "lobbying effort to save" former Division Commander Lim. The allegation is that participants in the "Stylish Marines" group chat, including former CEO Lee, a key figure in the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation case, lobbied to save former Division Commander Lim. The special counsel suspects that former CEO Lee, who is known to have managed first lady Kim Keon-hee's accounts in the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation case, may have used his acquaintance with the first lady to ask for leniency for former Division Commander Lim.