Prosecutor Park Sang-yong, a deputy chief prosecutor at the Incheon District Prosecutors Office who investigated the "SSANGBANGWOOL remittance to North Korea case," said on the 9th that he had never allowed Prosecutors Office Room 1313 at the Suwon District Prosecutors Office to be used as former SSANGBANGWOOL Chairman Kim Sung-tae's office.
Park said in a statement that day, "The individuals whom the former chairman is said to have met in Room 1313 were witnesses summoned for face-to-face questioning for investigative purposes only, and there was no instance of summoning them for reasons unrelated to the investigation," conveying this message.
A day earlier, lawmaker Lee Geon-tae of the Democratic Party of Korea held a press conference at the National Assembly communication center and urged the Ministry of Justice to investigate, saying, "Room 1313 of the Suwon District Prosecutors Office, which is Prosecutor Park's office, has been reduced to the former chairman Kim's 'chairman's office.'"
Lee went on to argue, citing recordings of the former chairman Kim's prison visits, that "while incarcerated, the former chairman Kim met an industry acquaintance and a SSANGBANGWOOL Group adviser in the prosecutors' office and held meetings, including calling in SSANGBANGWOOL CEOs to instruct them on matters related to the general shareholders meeting."
In response, Park countered, "Lee's claim ignores the legitimate investigation and trial process and distorts and exaggerates by blowing out of proportion certain expressions in a visitation transcript that is merely 'one page' of small talk," adding, "It is a claim far removed from the actual truth." He added, "If you look at the context of the conversation and the progress of the investigation and trial, you will see how groundless Lee's allegations are."
He also said, "These indiscriminate allegations appear to be intended to influence the third-party bribery trial regarding remittances to North Korea and the citizen participation trials such as Lee Hwa-young's perjury before the National Assembly, and to create a pretext to achieve the launch of a parliamentary investigation and the subsequent dismissal of the indictment by the prosecution or a special prosecutor," adding, "This is deeply concerning."