More prosecutor misconduct alleged in former PM Han Myung-sook's trial

(Source- Newstapa 5.25) "They said they were calling H's nephew and son to the prosecutor's office; H's son was not quite yet twenty years old." Prisoner H delivered Han Man-ho assertions to the prosecutor's but... Chyron- Prisoner H's letter: In the end, they used my son as a hostage, in an unethical, inhuman and unjust way. I had no choice but to produce the report that they intended.

This Newstapa youtube video was an update on prosecution misconduct in the case of former Prime Minister Han Myung-sook, who in 2015, was convicted on charges of violating election campaign fund laws allegedly by receiving 900,000,000 won, from business CEO, Han Man-ho. Han Man-ho repudiated his prior statements against the Prime Minister in court resulting in acquittal at the first trial. Newstapa somehow received a copy of Han's extensive written record of his contacts with prosecutors while imprisoned during the prosecution of Han Myung-sook. This record has undermined the credibility of the case against Han Myung-sook by revealing the unethical and illegal methods the prosecution allegedly used to fabricate a case against the Assembly woman and former Prime Minister.

The prosecution obtained testimony from witnesses in prison, one a serial fraud, and another a drug trafficker, to obtain statements contradictory to Han's repudiation in court of his prior statements upon which the case against the democratic Assemblywoman rested. Han Man-ho's turnabout resulted in acquittal at the first trial. At least one of these witnesses, "prisoner H," claims to have been coached by the prosecutor's office to produce statements to incriminate Han and impeach his testimony, in order to achieve the conviction of Han Myung-sook at a 2nd trial which was later upheld by the Supreme Court. Now Newstapa, the Korean Center for Investigative Journalism has disclosed statements from so called "prisoner H" that allege the unethical and criminal nature of the prosecution's methods to coerce testimony, including threatening prisoner H's family members with prosecution for as yet undetermined crimes, placing family members under "investigation," and taking a son "hostage," if the informant did not present statements supporting prosecutor contentions impeaching Han Man-ho and incriminating Han Myung-sook in court.

The floor leader of the Democratic Party in the National Assembly and the South Korean Minister of Justice are calling for a reinvestigation of the trial of Han Myung-sook.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvpgfOFuNJg

뉴스타파 대박, 검사 3명 얼굴 공개ㄷㄷ ("족발 수육 얻어먹은 검사들" 대박)
104,223 views•May 25, 2020

김초운 tv

(Source- Newstapa 5.25) Prosecutors from the Special section one of the Seoul Central Prosecutors Branch investigating the Han Man-ho and Han Myung-sook matter: Ahm Hui-jun, Im Kwan-hyuk, Kim Ki-dong.

These are three prosecutors from the Seoul Central Prosecutors office who worked on the Han Myung-sook case, and allegedly shared fancy meals with informant Prisoner H while preparing the case and meeting with the informant repeatedly. The Central prosecutor's office has released general statements rebutting the alleged ethical violations. Im Kwan-hak said, "he hardly had any connection to the case." Kim Ki-dong said, "the investigation was accomplished in accordance with the law and regulations." Other rebuttals included, "Han man ho convinced Prisoner H to reverse his/her statements," and "...that the two witnesses were coached by the prosecutor's office is false." Other statements reported in the press included that prosecutors met with Prisoner H so many times because they were investigating other cases, and that Prisoner H's statements could not be trusted because they were those of a fraud. Allegedly, the prosecutors shared expensive meals with the informant multiple times, said to have been pig's feet and boiled pork dinners from fashionable restaurants. This compares unfavorably with the customary sharing an economical meal of Jja-jang myun during other long interrogations. A follow up by the Newstapa journalists allegedly produced receipts for such deliveries to the prosecutors office totally about $500. An embarrassment if true.

And in the related Cho Guk political cases:

(Source- 빨간 아재, 5.22) Statement of Kim Kyong-rok, at sentencing released directly on the internet by Kim Kyong-rok:

"During my lifetime, I developed no interest in reform of the press nor prosecution. Outside of money things, I had no important interest whatever. I thought i didn't have any part to play. But in the last few months, my experience leading to this moment has brought me to keenly see that the tasks of press reform and prosecution reform are very important to me and the public. This, with my acknowledgement and reflection on my crime, is my intent to do together I think. Naturally, to obtain favorable treatment from the court in the disposition of my crime, I submit to the price I must pay. During the past several months i have keenly experienced as a party to the proceeding, I will not let the meaning slip away, but will become a person to help in the reform of the press and prosecution. Through the tragic experience of the last several months, if i can nurture our society even a little bit, i think i will become a more virtuous person."*

*[단독] 김경록 PB가 직접 밝힌 법정 폭탄발언의 이유_압축본 [빨간아재]
May 22, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f31xszhKP5Q

Prosecutors obtained a significant conviction in one of the Cho Guk related trials last week, when "personal banker" Kim Kyong-rok was convicted of concealing evidence in a criminal investigation and sentenced to ten months confinement in trial court. Allegedly, Kim at the behest of Chung Kyung-shim, college professor and wife of former Justice Minister Cho Guk, attempted to conceal evidence from prosecutors by removing hard drives from her computers. Kim's statements will probably also be used to implicate Cho Guk. Kim pled to removing hard drives from the personal computers of Chung at her home on August 28, 2019, and then further removing another hard drive from a computer at her office a few days later. Ostensibly, Kim was receiving a light sentence for surrendering the evidence to the prosecution investigating the case voluntarily, and acknowledging his guilt at the trial proceeding. Yet the procedure was tainted for the prosecutors because Kim Kyong-rok's statement was somewhat equivocal and included an intention to dedicate himself to help with efforts to reform the press and the prosecution after his personal experience with the implicitly unsavory combination.

Under the circumstances, it remains to be seen, how helpful Kim Kyong-rok will be in the ongoing prosecutions of Cho Guk and his spouse. It's possible that Kim's acknowledgement of guilt and prospective cooperation may have been obtained in a fashion similar to that of witnesses in the political prosecution of Han Myung-sook. Whether his interesting and cryptic statement is an indicator of any material revelations of prosecution misconduct is not clear. According to the Balgan Ajae video presentation, the complete statement by Kim Kyong-ruk was not published in the South Korean mainstream media, which essentially is a reflection of their conservative bias in favor of Chief Prosecutor Yeon Seok-yeol. It appears that a prima facie case for attempted concealment of evidence could be presented against Prof. Chung if Kim adheres to his statements thus far. Whether he could implicate Cho in the concealment of evidence appears less likely based on what is publicly known at this point. What is actually on the hard drives regarding alleged financial crimes hasn't been disclosed.

This blog post is the most recent in a series of posts, since March 15, interpreting South Korean alternative media analysis of political prosecutions and alleged prosecutorial abuses in the Central Prosecutor's Office headed by Yoon Seok-yeol.

Law in the case of Cho Guk

(Source- 아주3D Ep.23, May 12, youtube) The reporter is Jang Yom-jin


The law concerning organization of the Secretariat of the President's Office appears to allow the creation of inspection teams to review facts to support determinations on whether a matter needs to be referred for criminal investigation to prosecutors for legal process. The law is conditional on the judgement of the secretariat. Where evidence of guilt requiring compulsory legal disposition is limited the office of the Secretariat has that discretionary power. That's what the bold print cited by the reporter suggests. So it looks like Cho Guk's interpretation of the law when he was the Chief Secretary for Civil Affairs is correct. The law seems pretty straightforward as reported by Jang Yom-jin.

Only the factual issue remains whether or not the known evidence of guilt of a criminal violation by the vice mayor of Pusan, Yoo Jae-soo, was strong enough to overcome the discretion of the Presidential Secretariat and move their determination, that the case not be prosecuted, into a clear case of abuse of power. The failure of the evidence of Yoo's wrongdoing to be leaked by conservative prosecutors to the traditional conservative press after this length of time suggests that Cho Guk's decision wasn't an abuse of office. (The improper press-prosecution combination is described as 언검 유착. ) There are only summary allegations of receipt of gifts and favors, from parties with interests before Yoo's offices but no specifics thus far. This suggests the case against Cho Guk is stumbling.

It appears from this law, and the reports from the trial venue, that the pattern of unjustly framed political prosecutions by the Yoon faction is being borne out. Rather than the Blue House substituting its decision making powers for the Office of the Supreme Prosecutor, the opposite seems to be the case, where the Supreme Prosecutor's office is substituting it's judgement for the Office of the President. Now the political objective of Yoon and his former LKP, now Tong Hap Mirae Dang supporters, on the far right becomes clear. The strategy represented in a phrase previously heard on conservative broadcast media after Justice Minister Cho Guk stepped down, "we caught the fox in the house, now we must get the fox on the mountain." So the prosecution's media strategy of unlawful leaks painting Cho Guk and his family as corrupt as a prelude to removal from office and trial ultimately is part of a larger specific strategy of "impeach Moon Jae-in" evident during demonstrations at Gwanghwamun and Yoido. Those right wing "demos" were only grudgingly discontinued by the Taeguki group, religious fundamentalists and their right wing leaders, after the onset of the covid 19 pandemic. So now Yoon Seok-yeol's political prosecutions are the only political game left for the conservatives soundly defeated in last general election.

Politically motivated prosecutorial malfeaseance in South Korea

The dam seems to be near the breaking point for Supreme Prosecutor Yoon Seok-yeol in South Korea. A series of events related to the lack of integrity and political corruption in the central prosecutor's office have cascaded into the public eye in recent days.

(Source- 뉴스썰TV, 5.17 ) Supreme Prosecutor Yoon Seok-yeol.

The latest episode triggered by a major revelation concerning a series of prosecutions against former politician Han Myung-sook, who was convicted on charges of violating election campaign fund laws by receiving 900,000,000 won, from business CEO, Han Man-ho. Star witness Han is now deceased and his daily memoir from a period of incarceration of about ten months, has been obtained by NewsTapa, an independent journalism center in South Korea. What the journal reveals, is that the prosecution of South Korea's former first female prime minister was a fraud upon the court, obtained by the prosecution by threatening witnesses, soliciting perjury and withholding evidence from the court and defendant.

(Source- 뉴스썰TV, 5.17 ) Former South Korean Prime Minister and Assemblywoman Han Myung-sook, depicted in prison attire in front of prison notes of Han Man-oh, her accuser. Numbers of memorized statements by Han; "I was the prosecution's dog."

In the first trial of the second prosecution, Assemblywoman Han Myung-sook was found not guilty. She was found guilty at a second hearing, in a higher court, which was then affirmed at the Supreme Court level. In a previous prosecution for allegedly receiving a 50 thousand dollar bribe, she was found innocent, 1,2,3, times at all stages of litigation. Then the prosecution moved on to the second series of trial actions. Earlier in her political career, she had been charged with being a communist and imprisoned. She was later exonerated and continued a successful career in the National Assembly, becoming Prime Minister during the No Mu-hyun administration. She left that position to run for the presidency, but lost, and returned to the National Assembly. When she was found guilty in 2015 of campaign law violations, she lost her seat in the National Assembly and was imprisoned for two years. She was released from prison in August 2017. Democrats turned out in numbers to welcome her release. Now they have the satisfaction of knowing what they had maintained all along, she was subject of a right wing plot, including the prosecutor's office to frame her for something she didn't do.

The exposure of this gross abuse of power by the prior conservative administration and the unethical and criminal role of the prosecutor's office follows shortly upon the scandal surrounding Channel A's alleged role in soliciting perjury, and fraud on the court system, against long time government critic Yoo Shi-min, director of the No Moo-hyun foundation. Yoo is a major critic of the politicization of justice in South Korea, and an outspoken critic of Yoon Seok-yeol. Not surprisingly director Yoo was targeted, allegedly by Channel A, in a conspiracy with the central prosecutor's office, to solicit perjury, to support a press campaign to promote the prosecution of false accusations against Yoo. It is ironic that the No Mu-hyun Foundation director should be the target, as the former President of South Korea, No Moo-hyun, was the victim of a rabid press and prosecution campaign that targeted his family, in a manner very similar to the current prosecution of former Justice Minister Cho Guk and his family.

(Source- MBC News Desk; from 뉴스썰TV, 5.17) Yoo Shi-min, Director of No Moo-hyun Foundation (center) The chyron says "I want to strike Yoo Shi-min," (he) persistently demanded. ... Monstrous face of prosecutors revealed.

The timing could not be worse, as the case against the former Justice Minister Cho Guk, and his wife, college professor, Chung Kyung-shim, is foundering according to reports from independent journalists favoring the democratic administration's prosecutorial reform measures. On May 11, Chung was released after six months of pre-trial confinement. The prosecution tried to justify extending pre-trial confinement for the college professor for another six months. This on the putative basis that she might destroy evidence, flee the jurisdiction, or otherwise delay or obstruct the trial process. The judge denied the motion, finding none of the contentions credible. After six months of confinement, and issuing warrants to search literally more than a hundred locations in an effort to find something to convict Cho Guk and his wife, the cases against both of them appear to be less than convincing. Remarkably, the prosecutor in charge of the field team for the prosecution executing the extensive search warrants in the case, resigned last week. Prosecutor, Lee Gwang-suk, alleged to be Yoon Seok-yeol's proxy, allegedly resigned for personal reasons. Perhaps he can see the handwriting on the wall.

The case against Cho-guk's wife was brought out of order without the standard initial investigation by subpoena phase. The prosecution had two purposes to obstruct the prosecution reform effort headed by Cho Guk, and to create an aura of administration hypocrisy and scandal before the general elections on April 15. The haste in bringing the prosecutions was politically motivated. The prosecution went right to an indictment against Cho's wife with a less than one page charge sheet, that being inadequately supported, was amended without leave of court. Reportedly, the court took an unfavorable view of these unorthodox tactics which placed the prosecution in the position of claiming they may need another six months to pursue the case.

Critics are also perplexed as to why the valuable time of the court and extensive prosecution resources are being wasted on accusations of an improper college entrance process years ago for Cho Guk's daughter, which has in essence, failed of proof in the courtroom. One witness said he was subject to coercion by the prosecution and signed an untrue statement just to end his inquisition by the prosecutors. Although at risk, he felt obliged to tell the truth in court. Other witnesses including government and school officials, testified to the effect that the awards and certificates presented by Cho Guk's daughter were not forgeries and were supported by the facts.

The prosecution case against Professor Chung, will live or die based on the evidence concerning alleged financial and securities violations involving a family investment in a private fund she was induced to make by Cho Guk's cousin's son, a distant relative, also named Cho, who had written two books on stock market investing. The details are somewhat convoluted, but the role of Cho's relative appears to be similar to that of imprisoned investment advisor Lee Cheol in the right wing scheme targeting Director Yoo. In other words, a former motor parts company salesmen cum investment adviser, being pressured by the prosecutors to implicate Cho Guk's wife, and by implication Cho in financial and ethical regulation violations, self dealing, etc. Other major investors involved in the scheme seem to have disappeared from the scene without a trace, according to leg work done earlier by an investigative reporter. It remains to be seen how this will turn out at trial.


(Source- Chosun TV, 12.13.2019) Baik Won-yoo (right); Cho Guk (center) ;Park Hyung-cheol (left). Chyron says Baik and Cho explanations conflict... Park Hyung-cheol resigns.

The case against Cho Guk himself for alleged abuse of power by interfering in a prosecution against a democratic government official allegedly violating financial ethics laws is also faltering. Unlike his wife's ordeal, the former Blue House Secretary, and Minister of Justice was never jailed pending investigation. A key witness in the prosecution was the Blue House Secretary for Public Official Discipline, Park Hyung-cheol. One observer claimed Park had betrayed Cho as Yoon's source inside the Blue House, alleging Cho was using his influence to save a democrat from Pusan being investigated in a southern jurisdiction of South Korea. As it turns out Secretary Park Hyung-chol's testimony at trial wasn't decisive. In essence, the derelictions in fiscal discipline under prosecutorial investigation, were diverted to an administrative remedy in a joint decision, which included Park, and in addition to Cho Guk, the Blue House Secretary for Civil Affairs, Baik Won-yoo. This development led some to speculate, that the Supreme Prosecutor's prior lock on judicial process was failing, and that Secretary Park was seeking to distance himself from Yoon's modus operandi as the political tide changed. It's a confusing situation that doesn't lend itself to clear indications of guilt or abuse of power. Cho maintained at an Assembly committee hearing last year, that the evidence of guilt in the Pusan economics department case, was weak. Apparently, Park agreed. Baik maintained that the southern prosecutor's office had not agreed to stop the cases, and without that the civil affairs "committee" of the Blue House, including Baik, Cho, and Park, had no power of oversight.

Analysts speculated that Yoon's right hand man doing the field work in the Cho Guk cases, prosecutor Lee Gwang-seok, also wishes to bail out of a sinking ship. While the Supreme Prosecutor has demonstrated himself to be a master of intrigue, perhaps more adept than his prior sponsors from the conservative Liberty Korea Party, his days may be numbered as his critics maintain. It is possible the trials and litigation could be dragged on indefinitely as claimed. A do over of the repeated prosecutions as in trials of former Prime Minister Han Myong-sook is unlikely in the current reform minded climate. The politically motivated litigation is no longer a secret that can be concealed from the South Korean public. The ongoing scandals around Yoon, official and private, likely played a role in the Democratic Party landslide April 15. All attends the convening and agenda of the Public Official Corruption Committee enacted by the 20th National Assembly to rectify the corruption in the prosecutor's offices. Prosecutor Lee's resignation, as well as the potential resignation of Yoon Seok-yeol, would not affect the corruption committee's jurisdiction over either according to one report. Would President Moon allow Yoon to escape this situation in which his options are slowly being foreclosed?

Art of Deception - conflicting US objectives in North and South Korea

A new article at Donga.com (Dong A Ilbo) implicitly confirms Donga Media original reports from April 23 onward that US reconnaissance aircraft identified Kim Jong-un moving about without assistance at his retreat near Wonsan, North Korea between April 14 and 20.

Both countries agree that the U.S.’s reconnaissance resources have played a role in identifying Kim Jong Un’s movements since he went under the radar after a Political Bureau meeting on April 11. ...

...A total of four reconnaissance planes were deployed last Friday when Kim appeared at the fertilizer plant. Some of the findings from such tight monitoring were shared with the South Korean government, which is why the South Korean government could confidently say that there was no unusual development in the North in addition to its internal intelligence. “The majority of the U.S.’s reconnaissance resources dedicated to Northeast Asia were deployed to the Korean Peninsula to identify Kim Jong Un’s movements,” said a diplomatic source.

*

*U.S. reconnaissance resources could increase pressure on S. Korea’s defense burden, by Gi-Jae Han and Kyu-Jin Shin; May. 06, 2020 07:42, Updated May. 06, 2020 07:42; http://www.donga.com/en/home/article/all/20200506/2055581/1/U-S-reconnaissance-resources-could-increase-pressure-on-S-Korea-s-defense-burden

According to the new Donga report, the US is now arguing that the intense reconnaissance effort is a basis for increased payments from South Korea for its share of US military costs in South Korea. This is main thrust of the new DongA article. Leaving the stalled SMA US- ROK negotiations aside for the moment, the key revelation is that US reconnaissance assets showed that Kim was alive and well. All this while the usual suspect assets, the defector groups, the think tanks, their web sites and flacks in the pliable media, asserted in all platforms available to them in South Korea, the US and Japan, as well the world generally, that Kim was critically ill after a heart procedure, in a coma, dying, or already dead. Not a word of this based upon a reliable source.

Due to the effectiveness of US reconnaissance the "Kim is dead" narrative was known to be false inside the US and South Korean governments, virtually the entire time, while mainstream media in the US pushed the story that Kim was a goner as hard as they could. This was a psychological warfare operation supplementing the usual regime change, maximum pressure campaign ongoing against North Korea. It's purpose was to foment instability in North Korea in the form of a potential succession crisis. That this duplicitous strategy should now be used to pressure South Korea to fork up a larger share of US military costs in South Korea is very unlikely to be successful.

Unfortunately for them, two well known North Korean defectors recently elected to the South Korean National Assembly on April 15, have been pilloried in South Korean political circles and press for their dubious contribution to the misinformation campaign about Kim's incapacity and demise, pressed primarily by the US and Japan. (The Japanese press went so far as to publish photo-shopped imagery and video of Kim Jong-un's face pasted onto his father's glass casket in the Palace of the Sun.) The South Korean perception of the credibility of Thae Yong-ho and Ji Song-ho have been seriously damaged by the episode. The question of their loyalty to South Korea is openly raised by politicians asking whether or not they are "spies." Ji had gone so far as to say "I'm 99 percent certain Kim Jong-un is dead," which essentially means he's either dumb or dishonest. Thae made a public apology to the people of South Korea in an attempt to redeem his impaired reputation.*

*North Korea defectors criticised over speculation Kim was ill or dead, Hyonhee Shin, Sangmi Cha Reuters May 4, 2020;
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-kim-defectors/north-korea-defectors-criticised-over-speculation-kim-was-ill-or-dead-idUSKBN22G0FS

One seriously has to question why South Korea would consider rewarding the US for efforts that did not actually lead to increased security on the peninsula but were neutralized simultaneously by a US effort that was, in effect, an agit-prop operation, designed to cause instability in it's nuclear armed neighbor to the north. At one and the same time it attempted unsuccessfully to undermine the credibility of the South Korean government. The latter now has a historic new mandate from the April 15 general election. Ambassador Harris' appearance in a May 1 video, demonstrating his interest in cooking skills during the conundrum, added a ridiculous patina to another serious US public relations failure in South Korea. Or was the effort to destabilize the North with disinformation plausibly deniable?