The Ministry of Justice is said to have concluded from a fact-finding probe into the alleged "Lee Hwa-young salmon and liquor party" that there are indications a former senior prosecutor-turned-attorney tried to coax former Gyeonggi Province Vice Governor for Peace Lee Hwa-young.
According to legal sources on the 28th, a 16-page summary of the Ministry of Justice special inspection team's "salmon and liquor party allegation findings" included this conclusion.
The special inspection team concluded that, based on statements that the former vice governor told nearby inmates "I had a drink today with a prosecutor and SSANGBANGWOOL Chairman Kim Sung-tae," the day the salmon and liquor party took place was May 17, 2023.
The team also determined it was true that during the detention period (January 2023–January 2024), while being questioned in Room 1313 of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, former Chairman Kim was frequently provided outside lunch boxes and refreshments. During questioning around lunch and dinner times, a variety of outside lunch boxes—including yukhoe rice bowls, hoe-deopbap, jajangmyeon, galbitang, seolleongtang, and samgyetang—were provided to former Chairman Kim, former Vice Governor Lee, and other accomplices.
A custody officer witnessed a prosecutor asking former Chairman Kim what food he wanted to eat and that food being provided as a lunch box, and the team also obtained statements that SSANGBANGWOOL employees brought macarons, Couque d'Asse, hamburgers, and coffee when they came to the prosecutor's office to visit him. It concluded that SSANGBANGWOOL employees sometimes stayed during former Chairman Kim's questioning and acted as aides, bringing coffee or water.
It was also confirmed that after gathering accomplices in a video recording room, a prosecutor left the room so they could talk among themselves, or allowed them to wait and converse in a space called the "warehouse."
The special inspection team also found credible former Vice Governor Lee's claim that attorney Cho Jae-yeon, a former high prosecutor, met him and tried to coax him by saying, "Discussions have been had with senior prosecutors, so if you cooperate with the investigation, the recommended sentence can be reduced."
According to the report, a retired prison officer said, "Attorney Cho and the (Suwon District Prosecutors' Office) prosecutor seemed close. At first, the attorney set the schedule, and later the prosecutor did; there were about four times when attorney Cho set the schedule," and added, "Attorney Cho said we had to 'pin things down and speak clearly.'"
Attorney Cho met former Vice Governor Lee on June 19 and June 29, 2023, over two days without being formally retained as counsel. In 2023, former Chairman Kim was brought out for prosecution questioning 184 times, the most among those escorted from nine major correctional institutions nationwide, including the Seoul, Suwon and Eastern detention centers.