Police say some conclusions reached in Kim Byung-kee probe, investigation ongoing

By Kim A-rin, The Herald Business

Police said Sunday that investigators have reached preliminary conclusions on some of the allegations against independent lawmaker Kim Byung-kee and are now working to supplement those findings.

Park Seong-ju, head of the Korean National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters, told reporters at a press briefing at the agency's headquarters in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, that the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency had drawn initial conclusions on some of the allegations against Kim. "For the parts where we determined supplementary work was needed at the national headquarters level, we have directed the Seoul agency to conduct additional investigation," Park said.

Park added that some of the allegations the Seoul agency had raised on its own had yet to be fully resolved. "We will direct investigators on the areas that still need to be supplemented and aim to reach conclusions as quickly as possible," he said.

On the possibility of referring some charges to prosecutors ahead of others, Park said the entire investigation into all the allegations should be wrapped up at once before anything is forwarded.

Earlier, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Park Jeong-bo had signaled at a May 18 press briefing that a partial referral was possible, saying investigators were considering processing completed portions of the case first given the large number of charges. The two officials' remarks appear to be at odds with each other.

A Korean National Police Agency official at Sunday's briefing said it was too early to say whether charges would be referred partially or all at once, adding that there was no disagreement with the Seoul agency and that the two sides were coordinating.

Responding to criticism that the investigation into Kim has dragged on, the official said the public may feel the case has taken a long time, but that the entire Public Crime Investigation Unit has been dedicated to what is an exceptionally wide-ranging probe. "We plan to conclude the investigation swiftly and rigorously," the official said.

Asked about the possibility of summoning Kim again, the official said only that investigators were "working hard." Kim appeared at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on April 10 for his seventh round of questioning.

Kim faces allegations that include accepting and then returning 30 million won (about $19,400) in candidate nomination funds from two former Dongjak-gu council members; intervening to quash a police investigation into his spouse's alleged misuse of a corporate credit card; using his influence to secure his second son's transfer admission to Soongsil University and a job at Bithumb; and assigning work related to his eldest son — an active National Intelligence Service employee — to his parliamentary office staff.