DP sponsors bill calling for special investigation of first lady

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DP sponsors bill calling for special investigation of first lady

Published: 09 Mar. 2023, 18:12

Democratic Party Rep. Yang Kyung-sook, left, and Shin Jung-hoon submit the bill on the Independent Counsel that would investigate into the first lady Kim Kyeong-hee’s alleged involvement in a stock manipulation at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on Thursday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

The Democratic Party (DP) has taken its first step to create an independent counsel to investigate the alleged involvement of the first lady, Kim Keon-hee, in stock manipulation.

Some 15 DP lawmakers led by Rep. Jin Sung-joon on Thursday sponsored a bill to form an independent counsel that would investigate not only the first lady’s involvement in Deutsche Motors’ stock manipulation, but also suspicions regarding the illegal sponsorship of her company, Covana Contents.

“The prosecutors never operate properly when it involves Kim Keon-hee,” said DP floor leader Park Hong-keun.

“We need a special counsel investigation into the suspected Deutsche Motors stock manipulation and quid pro quo sponsorship of Covana Contents.”

Park alleged that the investment company to which the first lady lent her account, which was used in stock manipulation, was unauthorized by the financial authority.

“If she had entrusted her investment knowing that the company was illegal, it could be evidence that she took part in a criminal act,” Park said. “And yet prosecutors have prosecuted her.”

He also stressed that the owner of the company that sponsored Kim’s Covana Contents was a target of investigation when President Yoon Suk Yeol was the head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.

“The people’s independent counsel is the only solution,” Park said. “The longer it takes the special counsel to launch, the more time we give Kim Keon-hee to be exonerated.”

The president’s People Power Party (PPP) responded by calling the DP’s call for an independent counsel a diversion from DP leader Lee Jae-myung’s own legal woes.

“It is clear that the special counsel is politically motivated to dilute the investigation into Lee Jae-myung,” said Joo Ho-young, the PPP’s floor leader.

“The DP and the investigative institutions dug into President Yoon when he was the head of the prosecutors’ office and when he was a presidential candidate, yet they failed to indict him for anything,” Joo said.

He said his party will do all it can to stop the independent counsel bill from passing.

The DP and the Justice Party have agreed to push the independent counsel investigation, though they are still at odds over the details.

Both liberal parties are planning to put the bill to a vote in the National Assembly.

For the bill on the independent counsel to pass, it needs the consent of three fifths of the National Assembly, or 180 votes.

The DP has 169 seats, while the Justice Party has six.

However, the bill could be vetoed by President Yoon.

First lady Kim Keon-hee attends an International Women’s Day held at COEX, Seoul, on Wednesday. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

The Deutsche Motors’ stock manipulation case dates back to 2009 to 2012.

The former head of the Korean BMW car dealer, Kwon Oh-soo, was given a two-year suspended prison term last month.

While the court acknowledged that the first lady’s accounts were frequently used by people involved in manipulating stocks, the first lady was never indicted as there was no proof that she was aware of the scheme.

Prosecutors also dropped its investigation into corporate sponsorship of the first lady’s company on March 2, saying no favors were requested or performed.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]