The standing special prosecutor investigating allegations of external pressure not to indict in the case of unpaid severance pay at Coupang summoned Prosecutor Kim Dong-hee of the Busan High Prosecutors' Office (former deputy head of the Bucheon Branch of the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office) for a third round of questioning on the 11th. The special prosecutor is said to be reviewing the overall allegations for which Kim was booked, including allegations that Kim leaked investigative secrets.
Starting at 10 a.m. that day, the standing special prosecutor summoned Kim as a suspect and is under investigation on charges of abuse of power to obstruct the exercise of rights, falsification of official documents, and leaking official secrets. In the process, the key issues are how the reports and instruction documents at the time were handled and whether they were passed outside.
The special prosecutor is looking into allegations that Kim passed along investigation-related information to Attorney Kwon Sun-young of KIM&CHANG, who had represented former Coupang CFS CEO Um Seong-hwan. Kim is suspected of having conveyed to Attorney Kwon, around March to April last year, supplementary investigative directives related to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's first report on the investigation into suspected unpaid severance.
In connection with this, on the 10th the standing special prosecutor summoned Attorney Kwon as a reference witness and questioned her. The standing special prosecutor is also investigating Kim on charges of abuse of power to obstruct the exercise of rights and falsification of official documents.
The case stems from allegations that Coupang Fulfillment Services (CFS) changed its work rules in May 2023 to disadvantage workers in order not to pay severance and applied the changes from before 2023. The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) referred the case with a recommendation to indict, but the Bucheon Branch of the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office issued a nonindictment disposition.
That day, in relation to the "Gwanbongwon band disposal allegation," the standing special prosecutor was also conducting the selection procedure for the mobile phone of Choi Sun-young, then head of the investigation division at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, who had been in charge of reviewing seized items from Jeon Seong-bae, known as Geonjin.