Former, sitting lawmakers raided in election interference probe
A special counsel team conducted multiple search and seizure operations Tuesday at offices and residences of main opposition People Power Party lawmakers as part of an investigation into alleged election interference involving political broker Myung Tae-kyun and former first lady Kim Keon Hee.
Tuesday's raid by the special counsel team — led by Min Joong-ki to investigate multiple allegations concerning Kim — was conducted to look into allegations that the former first lady meddled in the then-ruling party's candidate nominations for the 2022 parliamentary by-elections.
According to the special counsel team, investigators carried out a separate search and seizure of People Power Party Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun's office and home, along with the home of Kim Young-sun, a former five-term lawmaker of the conservative party, to secure documents and digital data related to the then-presidential couple's possible election interference.
The election interference scandal centers on Myung, who is suspected of receiving about 90 million won ($65,800) from former lawmaker Kim on several occasions from 2022 to 2024. This was allegedly in exchange for Myung's help in securing her nomination on the party ticket ahead of the 2022 by-elections.
The prosecution, which had investigated this case prior to the special counsel in 2024, previously revealed that Yoon Sang-hyun's name was brought up in a recorded call between Myung and then-President Yoon Suk Yeol, who said he would ask Rep. Yoon and the People Power Party to support Kim, since 'he (Rep. Yoon) is the party's nomination committee chair, after all.'
Investigators also searched the home of former prosecutor Kim Sang-min to look into Myung's allegation that former first lady Kim Keon Hee attempted to offer a ministerial post or a position as the head of a state-run agency to Kim Young-sun if she would agree to help the former prosecutor win the 2024 general election in Uichang-gu of Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, which is a district previously won by Kim Young-sun.
Meanwhile, the special counsel team, also tasked with probing Kim Keon Hee-related allegations including stock price manipulation, summoned key executives of Eurasia Business Association and Sambu Construction on Tuesday to examine ties between Kim and organizations involved in Ukraine reconstruction projects in 2023.
According to the special counsel, a former president of Eurasia Business Association — a Korea-based consulting agency that organized the Ukraine Recovery Conference in 2023 — appeared for questioning on how the conference was planned and whether there was any attempt to orchestrate a stock-price surge at a midsized South Korean construction firm.
The investigators reportedly examined the association and its officials' connections to former Land Minister Won Hee-ryong, former CEO of Black Pearl Invest Lee Jong-ho and other Eurasia Business Association executives.
This measure is interpreted as an effort to secure evidence proving the relationships among those involved in one set of allegations against Kim.
The allegations center on a surge in Sambu's stock price. Shares skyrocketed within a three-month period amid market rumors that the company was set to take part in Ukraine reconstruction projects in 2023.
The stock price surge allowed former and current owners and executives of the company to unload company shares and reap profits worth tens of billions of won.
The Sambu case first caught public attention after a message from Lee sparked controversy in July 2024.
The company had previously announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation on Ukraine's postwar reconstruction efforts with multiple organizations, including the Eurasia Business Association, in 2022.
Though the stock price showed no noticeable change at the time, the Democratic Party of Korea later argued that the company's trading volume and stock price surged after Lee posted a text message saying, 'Check Sambu tomorrow' in a group chat that reportedly involved high-ranking military officials and a former Presidential Security Service official, among others, on May 14, 2023.
On May 16, the then-presidential couple met with Ukrainian first lady and presidential envoy Olena Zelenska in Seoul.
The company gained attention as a Ukraine reconstruction-themed stock and hit the daily price ceiling after the former land minister and major shareholders of Sambu attended the Ukraine Recovery Conference on May 22.
Sambu's stock price skyrocketed as the company announced it had signed multiple memorandums of understanding with local Polish governments during the conference and promoted the agreements through press releases.
Having stayed below 2,000 won (about $1.50) until May, the stock price surged to 5,500 won by July, when Yoon and Kim visited Ukraine.
The Democratic Party raised suspicions of stock manipulation and suggested that Kim could have been involved, citing her personal ties with Lee, who was suspected of another case of stock price manipulation with Deutsch Motors that the former first lady was also accused of taking part in.
The minor opposition Rebuilding Korea Party meanwhile questioned how Sambu, which had virtually no experience in overseas business barring a single road construction project in Pakistan in 2021, was able to attend the Ukraine Recovery Conference with the land minister.
When Sambu's CEO, former and current owners were previously accused of inflating the stock price in April this year, authorities did not file a complaint with the prosecution against the former first lady and Land Minister Won at the time, saying they had found no evidence they had done anything criminal.
The special counsel team is scheduled to summon Lee Il-jun, chairperson of Sambu Construction, for questioning on Wednesday as it widens investigations in regard to the stock price manipulation case.
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