Prosecutors said the reason they returned the communication warrant application that police sought for former Cheongju City Council member Choi Young-jung, who is under investigation on suspicion of buying sex from a minor, was because it was a "separate-case investigation."
The Cheongju District Prosecutors' Office said on the 19th that, regarding the communication warrant in this case, "not only did (the police) apply for a probing, exploratory warrant for separate criminal facts unrelated to the facts of the crime in this case, but, after comprehensively considering the lack of substantiation for the separate criminal facts, it was dismissed with the purport that supplementation was needed to substantiate the allegations."
The Cheongju District Prosecutors' Office said, "In the case of the search and seizure warrant, we requested supplementary investigation after comprehensively considering the need to specify the place of seizure and to particularize the facts of the crime, and, after the supplementary investigation, we requested the refiled warrant, obtained it from the court, and executed it."
The Cheongju District Prosecutors' Office explained that when police applied for the search and seizure warrant and the communication warrant, the suspect's identity or occupation had not been established. It added, "The prosecution reviewed whether to request the warrant solely based on the facts and legal principles confirmed in the records, without any other considerations whatsoever, and the suspicion that the responsible prosecutor is connected to a particular politician is entirely untrue."
It continued, "Just as the search and seizure warrant was issued through the prosecution's proper request for supplementary investigation, going forward, without any other considerations whatsoever, we will, through warrant reviews and requests for supplementary investigation, ensure that police lawfully collect evidence to redress the rights of the underage victim and to thoroughly ascertain the truth, and we will make every effort so there are no gaps in proving the charges."
The former city council member is suspected of having sexual relations with a middle school student on three occasions from Oct. 2024 to May last year and of demanding that nude photos be taken and sent. At the end of February this year, after being booked by police upon a report from the victim student's parents, he received the People Power Party nomination to run in the June 3 local election and was elected.
National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee Chairperson Seo Young-kyo held a news conference at the National Assembly's communication center that day and raised the possibility of collusion between former People Power Party Cheongju Seowon party chapter head Kim Jin-mo, who stepped down taking responsibility for nominating the former city council member Choi, and the prosecution.
Chairperson Seo said, "(The former party chapter head) served as chief of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office and head of the Planning and Coordination Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office during President Park Geun-hye's administration, and as Blue House senior civil affairs secretary during President Lee Myung-bak's administration," adding, "We cannot help but raise suspicions about what relationship exists among the prosecutors who (returned this warrant), former party chapter head Kim Jin-mo, and former city council member Choi."