Lee Hwa-young, former vice-governor of Gyeonggi Province, requests the right to speak at the Legislative and Judiciary Committee (Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Ryu Young-seok = Former Gyeonggi-do Vice Governor for Peace Lee Hwa-young is requesting the right to speak during the 2025 National Assembly audit held at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 23rd. 2025.10.23 ondol@yna.co.kr
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporters Kwon Hee-won and Jeon Jae-hoon = As a result of the Ministry of Justice’s fact-finding investigation into the so-called ‘Lee Hwa-young salmon and alcohol party’ suspicions, it was determined that former Ssangbangwool Chairman Kim Seong-tae received various conveniences during the prosecution’s investigation, and that a high-ranking prosecutor’s lawyer attempted to persuade former Gyeonggi Province Deputy Governor Lee Hwa-young for peace.
According to the legal community on the 28th, it was confirmed that this content was included in the 16-page summary of the ‘Salmon and Alcohol Party Suspicion Investigation Results’ prepared by the Ministry of Justice’s special inspection team on September 17th, when the Ministry of Justice ordered the start of an inspection.
The special inspection team concluded that the day of the salmon and alcohol party was specified as May 17, 2023, based on former Deputy Governor Lee’s statement to surrounding prisoners that he had a drink with the prosecutor and Ssangbangwool Chairman Kim Seong-tae today.
It was also determined to be true that former Chairman Kim was frequently provided with outside lunch boxes and refreshments during his detention period (January 2023 to January 2024).
During the investigation at the Suwon District Prosecutor’s Office No. 1313, it was said that during lunch and dinner time, the former Chairman of the Prosecutor’s Office, the former Deputy Governor Lee, and other accomplices were provided with various external lunch boxes, including raw fish rice bowl, raw fish rice bowl, Jajangmyeon, galbitang, seolleongtang, and samgyetang.
After the prosecutor asked former Chairman Kim what food he wanted to eat, he observed that the food was provided as a lunch box, and we also obtained a statement from a prison guard that Ssangbangwool employees bought macaroons, cookie dough, hamburgers, and coffee when they visited the prosecutor’s office to visit former Chairman Kim.
In addition, based on the statements of the prison guards, it was concluded that Ssangbangwool employees were present during former Chairman Kim’s interrogation and acted as assistants, bringing him coffee and water.
It was also confirmed that after gathering the accomplices in a video recording room, the prosecutor left the room so they could talk to each other, or allowed them to talk while waiting for the investigation in a space called a ‘warehouse’.
The special inspection team also determined that former Vice-Governor Lee’s claim that former Vice-Governor Cho Jae-yeon, a former High Prosecutors’ Office chief, met with former Vice-Governor Lee and persuaded him by saying, “We have spoken to high-ranking prosecutors, so if you cooperate with the prosecution’s investigation, we can lower your sentence,” is also true.
According to the report, a retired prison guard stated, “It seems that Attorney Cho and the prosecutor (Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office) were close. At first, the lawyer made the schedule, later the prosecutor made the schedule, and then Attorney Cho made the schedule about four times.” He added, “Attorney Cho said, ‘We need to point it out clearly and talk about it.'”
It was confirmed that Attorney Cho met with former Deputy Governor Lee in his non-appointed capacity as a lawyer for two days, June 19 and June 29, 2023.
The number of appearances by former Chairman Kim for prosecution investigations in 2023 was recorded to be 184, the most among the nine major correctional institutions across the country, including Seoul, Suwon, and Eastern Detention Center.
hee1@yna.co.kr
▶ Report via KakaoTalk okjebo
