Special prosecutors question key figures in alleged Deutsch Motors probe suppression

By Choi Eui-jong, The Herald Business

The second comprehensive special prosecutor's team — led by Special Prosecutor Kwon Chang-young and tasked with investigating allegations left unresolved after the three earlier special counsel probes into insurrection, first lady Kim Keon Hee and the Marine corporal case — is stepping up its inquiry into the suspected suppression of the Deutsch Motors share-price manipulation investigation, summoning senior members of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office command line in quick succession.

On Thursday morning, the special prosecutor's team called in Choi Jae-hun, former head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office's anti-corruption investigation unit 2 and currently a senior prosecutor at the Daejeon District Prosecutors Office's major economic crimes investigation unit, for questioning as a suspect on charges of falsifying official documents and violating the Act on the Prohibition of Improper Solicitation and Graft. It was the fourth time the team has summoned Choi.

Choi arrived at the special prosecutor's office in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, at around 9:56 a.m. Thursday. Asked by reporters whether he had coordinated the content of written responses with Kim Keon Hee's side in advance, he said, "I will give a full explanation on Thursday." He did not respond to follow-up questions — including whether he had recognized a request to review the response as an improper solicitation — and walked into the office.

Earlier, during the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office investigated the Deutsch Motors share-price manipulation case involving Kim Keon Hee and closed it without indictment in 2024, concluding that it was difficult to establish that she had knowingly or foreseeably entrusted account management or directly traded shares while aware of the market manipulation.

Critics, however, argued that prosecutors had failed to conduct a proper investigation into Kim. The case drew widespread controversy over what became known as "VIP treatment" — prosecutors had traveled to a Presidential Security Service facility to question Kim in a closed-door session, shielding her from the media photo line.

The special prosecutor's team suspects that the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office closed the case without indictment before finalizing its legal assessment, then retroactively constructed the justification. It has applied charges of falsifying official documents against former Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office chief Lee Chang-su and Choi, alleging they were involved in backdating revisions to investigation reports and non-indictment documents.

The team has also applied charges of violating the anti-graft law, suspecting that Kim's side exchanged informal draft responses with prosecutors before submitting an official written statement — effectively coordinating the content in advance. The special prosecutor's team believes Choi received an improper solicitation from Kim's side to review her response and acted on it in the course of his duties.

Also on Thursday, the team called in Seo Min-seok, a former deputy head of the same anti-corruption unit at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office, for questioning as a reference witness starting at around 9 a.m. Seo had previously been questioned as a witness on June 12. Earlier, on Monday, the team had summoned Kim Min-gu, former chief of the Gongju branch prosecutors office, as a suspect over alleged involvement in the "VIP treatment" questioning of Kim Keon Hee.

The team plans to summon former Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office chief Lee again on Friday. Lee had previously been questioned on June 15 and June 19. The team has also booked former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung on charges of abuse of authority in connection with the alleged suppression of the Kim Keon Hee investigation.

Alongside the Deutsch Motors probe suppression case, the team is also examining allegations that the investigation into Kim's receipt of a Dior handbag was similarly suppressed. In the handbag case, however, the team is understood to be looking specifically at whether prosecutors predetermined a no-charge outcome and then buried the investigation — a distinction from the Deutsch Motors case — given the ongoing legal dispute over whether accepting the bag constituted a violation in the first place.

At 1:30 p.m. Thursday, the team was set to question Baek Won-guk, who served as vice minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport at the time, over allegations that the route of the Seoul-Yangpyeong expressway was changed to benefit Kim Keon Hee's family. Former Land Minister Won Hee-ryong, who declared the project canceled after the controversy erupted, has also been booked in the case.

At 2 p.m., the team was scheduled to question Yoon Young-ho, former head of the Unification Church's world headquarters, as a reference witness in connection with allegations that an investigation into the church was suppressed. The team is probing claims that the Chuncheon Police Station in Gangwon Province failed to properly investigate a tip that a senior Unification Church official had engaged in gambling in the United States. The team questioned former National Police Agency chief Yoon Hee-geun as a suspect on June 23.