Prosecutors who exposed false testimony at sex-trade venues named top trial performers

A prosecutor who uncovered perjury amid shifting testimony from employees of a sex-trade venue has been recognized by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office as a top trial performer.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office named Jung Jae-eon, a prosecutor with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's Second Trial Division (headed by chief prosecutor Park Jong-seon), as its July outstanding trial case, Yonhap reported Monday. Jung passed the bar on the 14th sitting of the attorney licensing examination. He was selected for indicting two employees of a sex-trade venue on perjury charges.

Jung closely traced the mobile phone call records of venue workers who had changed their statements, identifying evidence that they had conspired to destroy evidence and commit perjury, and referred them for prosecution. He also secured testimony and ledgers from the manager of an officetel suspected of housing prostitution operations, and analyzed lease agreements to establish that the tenant of the unit in question was a corporation run by the defendant's spouse — a fact that had not previously come to light.

Also recognized was Jang Jin-woo, a prosecutor with the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office's Trial Division (headed by chief prosecutor Lee Ji-eun), who passed the bar on the 10th sitting. In a child sex-trafficking trial, after the defendant claimed his Twitter account had been hijacked, Jang conducted a supplementary investigation and proved that the defendant had personally logged into the account.

Kim Ki-man, a prosecutor with the Changwon District Prosecutors' Office's Trial and Litigation Division (headed by chief prosecutor Kwon Gyeong-ho), who passed the bar on the 13th sitting, was also selected. Kim confirmed that a jailed defendant had suborned perjury from witnesses held at a juvenile detention facility, and indicted five individuals on perjury charges.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office additionally recognized Lee Mun-gyeong, a prosecutor with the Third Criminal Division of the Pyeongtaek Branch Prosecutors' Office (headed by chief prosecutor Moon Jeong-sin), who passed the bar on the 12th sitting. In a drunk-driving retrial case where the defendant claimed identity theft and the original records had been destroyed, Lee conducted a supplementary investigation that led the court to dismiss the retrial petition.