Kim Ji-yong, the nominee to head South Korea's Major Crimes Investigation Agency, rejected allegations that he declined to request a sentence for the accused in a fraud case and instead indicted the complainant during his time as a prosecutor, saying he "handled the case in accordance with routine procedures."
In a statement released on the 12th, Kim addressed why he waived a sentencing recommendation at the final hearing in a case in which a woman surnamed Kim — the spouse of a man surnamed Min, who received a confirmed prison term in the 2016 "national seal fraud" case — filed a criminal complaint against a businessperson identified as A on fraud charges. "Whether Kim had handed A 50 million won in cash as a purported attorney retainer fee was the central issue at trial," the nominee said. "The credibility of her statements came into question, as her testimony did not match objective account transaction records, and she refused our request for additional substantiation. Because an acquittal was expected, I made my recommendation to the effect that the court should 'rule in accordance with the law and principle.'"
Kim is said to have handed over 50 million won in cash in 2010 after A told her, in effect, that her husband, Min, could be made to stand trial without being detained through a lawyer who was a former prosecutor general. Kim contends, however, that the money was never actually used for legal fees. A countered that the money was received but returned immediately afterward. At the time, the nominee served as head of the second trial division at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office — now the Seoul Central District Public Prosecution Office — where he directed the maintenance of the prosecution's case. A was acquitted at the first trial, and the verdict became final as prosecutors did not appeal.
The nominee subsequently put Kim on trial for making a false accusation, drawing criticism in some quarters that this amounted to an abuse of prosecutorial authority. "An analysis of a photograph Kim submitted to prosecutors as a 'photo of cash taken in 2010' confirmed that some of the bills in the image were issued in 2014, so I indicted her for false accusation and perjury intended to harm another," he said. "I understand that some of the perjury was recognized during trial and that she was convicted, and I find it difficult to agree with claims of abuse of prosecutorial authority." Kim was acquitted of the false accusation charge in both the first and second trials, while part of the perjury charge was upheld, and she received a six-month prison sentence suspended for one year.
The nominee also responded to allegations that he handled the case with an eye to a former prosecutor general's standing, given that a former prosecutor general was implicated. "This was a case in which A was indicted on fraud charges for 'taking 50 million won in cash from Kim and misappropriating it with no intention of passing it on as a retainer fee to a lawyer who had served as prosecutor general,' and there were no indications that a former prosecutor general was involved," he said. "I handled the case in accordance with routine procedures, based on the signs of perjury that emerged during trial, and there were no other considerations whatsoever."