The standing special prosecutor team led by Ahn Kwon-seop investigating allegations related to Coupang summoned Busan High Prosecutors' Office prosecutor Kim Dong-hee for the first time on the 7th. Kim is suspected of having exerted pressure in the past to dispose of without indictment a case over unpaid severance pay at Coupang.
According to legal sources, the standing special prosecutor called in Kim, who faces allegations including abuse of authority and leaking official secrets, as a suspect and is under investigation.
When asked by reporters, "Do you have a position on Director General Mun Ji-seok's claim that there was outside pressure on the investigation?", Kim said it was "Director General Mun's one-sided claim," adding, "The special prosecutor will bring the truth to light."
Kim, together with Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office prosecutor Um Hee-jun, is accused of pressuring Director General Mun Ji-seok, who was currently investigating allegations early this year of unpaid severance pay at Coupang, to issue a no-suspicion disposition. At the time, Kim was the deputy chief prosecutor at the Bucheon District Prosecutors' Office, and Um was the chief of the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office Bucheon Branch.
The standing special prosecutor is expected to question Kim on whether there were instructions to issue a no-suspicion disposition in the Coupang case and the reasons for judging the case as no-suspicion.
The Coupang unpaid severance case concerns allegations that in May 2023 Coupang changed its work rules to the disadvantage of workers and withheld payments of a severance-pay nature. The gist is that if even a single day with 15 hours or fewer of work per week fell within the period of employment, the severance calculation period would be recalculated from that day. This is the so-called "severance reset rule."
The Bucheon District Prosecutors' Office, where Kim served as deputy chief prosecutor, disposed of the case—referred by the Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Office with a recommendation to indict—as no-suspicion and nonindictment in April last year. Director General Mun, who investigated the case at the time, said at the National Assembly Environment and Labor Committee's audit in Oct. last year that his superiors, Kim and Um, pressured him to issue a no-suspicion disposition for Coupang.
Kim and Um's side argue there was no problem with the no-suspicion disposition because day laborers are not eligible for severance pay. They also contend there was no outside pressure because Director General Mun attended the meeting where the no-suspicion disposition was decided. They said Director General Mun's position on the no-suspicion decision and the key evidence were all reported to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.
Earlier, on the 24th of last month, the standing special prosecutor raided the offices of Kim and Um, ramping up the related investigation.