PPP lawmaker questions 16-hour police probe of colleague as targeted opposition investigation

People Power Party lawmaker Cho Eun-hee raised allegations Monday that the police investigation of fellow PPP lawmaker Kim Jae-seop amounted to targeted political persecution, questioning why he was subjected to 16 hours and 46 minutes of questioning.

Writing on her Facebook page that day, Cho said the lead investigator on Kim's case came from a law firm previously headed by Lee Tae-hyung, who serves as the presidential office's secretary for public official discipline. "Someone connected to a key figure in power was put in charge of investigating an opposition lawmaker," she said.

She then asked whether improper influence had been exerted over the assignment of the case, whether there was an inappropriate connection to Cheong Wa Dae, and whether a potential conflict of interest had been reviewed.

Cho also said the demand for Kim to appear for additional questioning showed that harsher standards were being applied to opposition lawmakers. "Rep. Kim was questioned by police for a full 16 hours and 46 minutes on the very first day of the national audit, and was then asked to come in again," she said, adding that a separate case involving former candidate Jeong Won-o had been assigned to a local police station and that it remained unclear whether the accused had even been questioned.

She went on to ask why Kim's case alone had been assigned to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Metropolitan Investigation Unit. "It is the same election, the same charges, the same statute of limitations — why is Rep. Kim's case being handled differently?" she said. "What is the reason for applying a harsher investigative standard only to opposition lawmakers?"

Cho also raised concerns about the circumstances surrounding the initial complaint against Kim. "The complaint process was also suspicious," she said, noting that the party that filed the complaint had withdrawn similar complaints against other lawmakers while maintaining the one against Kim.

She called for a thorough investigation into what she described as allegations of improper investigation, collusion with power, and suppression of the opposition — pointing to the lengthy questioning, the additional summons, the unusual case assignment and the personal ties between the presidential office secretary and the lead investigator. "Police must fully disclose to the public the circumstances of the case assignment, whether a conflict-of-interest review was conducted, and whether the two cases have been investigated on equal terms," she said.

Cho also warned that if police were "pointing the blade at the opposition while turning a blind eye to those around power," they could not escape criticism for conducting politically targeted investigations rather than upholding the law. "I hope the police will not invite the misunderstanding that political prosecutors have left only to be replaced by political police," she said.