Judicial Corruption Widespread

The recently-uncovered judicial corruption scandal in Taejon has just grown in scope and size.
The Taejon District Prosecutors' Office which is now investigating lawyer Lee Jong Ki's decided on January 10 to summon a large number of the 333 people mentioned in Lee's case file.
A prosecutor stated, 'Among the names, we found 44 current, high-ranking prosecutors, judges and other lawyers. We have given a careful look at those names and their connection to any illegal activities and it's likely that more than 100 persons might be questioned and investigated.'
These people are believed to have introduced more than 1,000 defendants in criminal and civil cases to Lee from July 1992 to September 1997.
There were no exact records as to how much they received from Lee in kickbacks for the referrals.
Lee denied the allegations and stated, 'The list was part of my files for cases which was made by my secretary, Kim Hyun. I do not know about the details including any payments for cases because I did not intervene or handle those activities. Rather, I suspected that Kim had embezzled money so I fired him.'
The Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office has sent a special investigation team to question current prosecutors to avoid any cover-ups and avoid the general public's suspision on the case.