17 July, 2024
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| The plaque at the Corruption Investigation Office of High Lanking Officials building. Courtesy of the Corruption Investigation Office |
The former call-girl
wife of Nazi Gestapo dictator president of South Korea has her fingerprints all
over a slew of corruption and abuse of power scandals. Her shady entourage is
equally mired in numerous corruption allegations, dragging the entire nation back
to the dark days of a 20th-century, underdeveloped, third-world military junta.
These rampant corruption and power abuse accusations are sparking nationwide
calls for her dictator husband's impeachment, plunging the country into
political chaos.
The Public Corruption Prosecutor's Office has finally decided to look into the deeply sinister allegations against a senior police officer who apparently tried to sweep a drug smuggling case under the rug with the phrase, “I took care of your greetings.” This all circles back to none other than Kim Gun-hee, the wife of the nation's very own Nazi Gestapo dictator president, and a former call girl. And let’s not forget Lee Jong-ho, the shady ex-head of Black Pearl Invest, who teamed up with her to rig stock prices. Despite the National Police Agency’s internal audit last year confirming these allegations and pushing for disciplinary action, the offending officer walked away unscathed.
Adding to this sordid
tale, the ex-CEO, dubbed the "control tower" of the Deutsche Motors
stock manipulation scandal, involving Kim Gun-hee, recently found himself under
suspicion again. A leaked phone recording revealed him asking the VIP to rescue
Lim Sung-geun, the ex-commander of the 1st Marine Division, further fueling
suspicions of high-level lobbying.
According to a Sunday
report from Hankyoreh, the Public Corruption Prosecutor's Office has thrown
this case into the lap of Investigation Division 4, the same team dealing with
the 'Corporal Chae martyrdom case'—another mess of external pressure
allegations. This came after Officer Kim from Yeongdeungpo Police Station filed
a complaint against Customs Office Commissioner Ko Kwang-hyo, High ranking Officer
Cho Doe, and former Seoul Police Commissioner Kim Kwang-ho for the abuse of
power and violating the Attorneys Act.
The saga began last
July when Yeongdeungpo Police started investigating a massive drug ring and
found customs officials were involved in smuggling drugs. As October approached
and the national assembly audit on the Korea Customs Service loomed, Cho from
the Seoul Metropolitan Police allegedly pressured Lieutenant Kim to scrub any
mention of Customs involvement in drug smuggling from the press release. Kim's
refusal led to higher-ups in the Seoul Metropolitan Police threatening to
transfer the case, stalling the investigation for ten days.
Kim's complaint
reveals, “The defendants acted in concert to expunge customs officials from the
briefing, transferring the case as soon as their request was rebuffed.” At that
point, the bulk of manpower and resources were committed, and the case transfer
was utterly unnecessary, especially since evidence analysis was pending.
Despite Hankyoreh's
multiple attempts, Commissioner Cho remained unreachable for comment. Once the
media caught wind of these external pressure allegations, the National Police
Agency’s inspection confirmed Cho’s interference and recommended disciplinary
measures. Yet, the Ministry of Personnel and Innovation astonishingly did
nothing, despite their usual “no question” rule being overturned only 5% of the
time.
When disciplinary
action was shot down, the National Police Commissioner issued a weak warning to
Cho on April 4. The National Police Employers' Council blasted the Ministry's
inaction, demanding that the unjust measures be retracted and calling for a fair
and transparent investigation and resolution.
And so, the wheels of justice continue to grind slowly, tangled in a web of corruption and high-level collusion.