Clear suspicions about the ‘5-billion-won club’

The prosecution has summoned former special prosecutor Park Young-soo — who is suspected of taking 5 billion won ($3.9 million) in bribes from a developer in the controversial Daejang-dong redevelopment project in return for favors — for questioning and plans to request an arrest warrant for him depending on the results of the probe. After the names of six lawyers, including Park, under the same suspicion were exposed in the National Assembly in October 2021, the mystery has yet to be cleared. Only a former lawmaker was arrested and indicted, but he was found not guilty in the first trial. If the prosecution summons Park, he will be the second suspect to be investigated by prosecutors. A bill aimed at appointing a special prosecutor to investigate the case was passed in the legislature in March.

Suspicions over Park are many. The prosecution is known to have obtained the testimony from Kim Man-bae — a key member of the developer — that the former special prosecutor demanded 20 billion won from Kim in return for helping him to win the bid for the development when he was the board chair at Woori Bank in 2015. At the time, the bank issued a letter of intent to lend 150 billion won to the developer to help him win the bid.

Park also received 15 million won each month from Hwacheon Daeyu — the developer where Kim was the largest stakeholder — as counseling fees. His daughter also gained 800 million in profit from an apartment she received from the developer. After serving as a top prosecutor, Park helped impeach former president Park Geun-hye over corruption as special prosecutor. He denies all allegations against him.

The suspicions over Park were raised from the early stage of the development scandal. But the prosecution’s investigation was lackluster except for summoning the former prosecutor twice in 2021 and 2022. Then the prosecution started investigations in March after the legislation and judiciary committee passed a bill to appoint a special prosecutor to look into his suspicions. Prosecutors’ probe of other members of the “5-billion-won club” is also proceeding at a snail’s pace. The last time when the prosecution summoned former Supreme Court justice Kwon Soon-il — another member of the dubious club — was the end of 2021, not to mention its investigation of a former prosecutor general also suspected of receiving 5 billion won from the developer.

The Daejang-dong scandal cannot be resolved without clearing the suspicions about the six. The legislature put the bill on appointing a special prosecutor on the fast track in April. If the bill is passed in a plenary session of the Assembly in December, investigation authority will be transferred to a special prosecutor. We urge the prosecution to get to the bottom of the case before it’s too late.