Former Coupang CEO Park Dae-jun appeared at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Public Crime Investigation Unit in Mapo District, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 8th to be questioned as a reference in connection with the so-called "lunch entertainment allegations."
As Park arrived, Park did not answer reporters' questions such as "What did you talk about over the meal with Rep. Kim Byung-kee?" and "Was there any solicitation ahead of the parliamentary audit?"
Park has been identified as the person who treated Rep. Kim Byung-kee, then floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, to an expensive lunch at a hotel in Yeouido, Seoul, ahead of the National Assembly audit in September last year.
Kim is suspected of having asked for personnel favors regarding Coupang employees who were formerly his aides during the meal.
As allegations of a lunch entertainment with Park emerged, Kim explained, "There have been talks that my former staff have been trading on my name, and I asked that they be prevented from using my name to handle government relations going forward."