Um Hee-jun, a prosecutor at the Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office who is under investigation by the standing special counsel over alleged outside pressure in the non-indictment of Coupang in the unpaid severance case, on the 25th denied the allegations in full, saying, "Not a single piece of evidence has been found that I was colluding with Coupang."
Um, who was the Bucheon branch chief of the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office at the time, issued a statement the same day and stated accordingly, "I provided the password to my mobile phone to the special counsel, and the special counsel checked all call history, text messages, KakaoTalk records, browser history, photos, and more."
After saying that the special counsel is currently investigating him on charges of abuse of power to interfere with the exercise of rights regarding prosecutors Shin Ga-hyeon and Mun Ji-seok, Um emphasized that there was no personal gain or improper motive in the handling of the case.
He argued, in effect, that "an improper motive of a public official is a key element in the crime of abuse of authority," and that "only if I had disposed of the Coupang case as no charges due to personal gain or some other improper motive would there be room to recognize abuse of authority."
He continued, "In this case, those requirements were not met at all," adding, "At this point, as the investigation nears its end, the special counsel, too, will have confirmed that I had no collusive ties with Coupang and no other improper motive."
Um also said that indications were confirmed during the special counsel's investigation that Shin, the lead prosecutor, had consistently held a no-charges view after receiving and reviewing the case, and argued that there was no interference with Shin's exercise of investigative authority. He further said that because the investigative authority belonged to Shin as the lead prosecutor, interference with the investigative authority of former chief prosecutor Mun Ji-seok (now a prosecutor at the Suwon High Prosecutors' Office) likewise could not be established.
The allegations surfaced after former chief prosecutor Mun testified at the National Assembly's audit in Oct. last year that then-branch chief Um and then-deputy chief prosecutor at the Bucheon branch, Kim Dong-hee (now a prosecutor at the Busan High Prosecutors' Office), pressured that the Coupang case be disposed of as no charges. The issue later led to the launch of the special counsel.
Former chief prosecutor Mun has claimed that former branch chief Um ignored his report that further investigation into Coupang was necessary and did not attach evidence secured through the search and seizure of Coupang to the report to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. He also claimed that on Feb. 21 last year, Um held a one-on-one meeting with prosecutor Shin and presented what he called a "no-charges guideline."
In response, Um said in his statement that on Mar. 5 last year he held a three-way meeting with prosecutor Kim to hear Mun's views, and that the next day, Mar. 6, Mun sent via KakaoTalk the need to review suspected violations of the Labor Standards Act. He countered that the final report on Apr. 22 additionally recorded the review of whether the Labor Standards Act applied.
On the allegation of an omitted report, Um also argued, "Objective evidence has confirmed in the special counsel's investigation that Director General Mun's views and the results of executing the labor office's search, seizure, and verification warrants were all reported without omission."
Um further said it appears the special counsel is reviewing the composition of interference with investigative authority on the grounds that he and prosecutor Kim did not accept former chief prosecutor Mun's view for additional investigation and closed the case as no charges. He argued that in such a scenario, even if the case was handled without procedural defects, it could lead to a conclusion of criminal punishment merely for not following another prosecutor's opinion.
At the end of the statement, he also requested an investigation into Mun for false accusation. He said, "During the remaining investigation period, thoroughly investigate Mun for false accusation and clarify the matter."
Meanwhile, the standing special counsel is expected on the 26th to question Mun for a second time as a reference witness to check points that conflict with statements by Um and others.
Launched in Dec. last year, the special counsel plans to conclude the investigation on the 5th of next month and announce the results.