The prosecution on Tuesday took two police inspectors into custody on suspicion of copying and leaking the reports on former presidential aide Chung Yoon-hoi.
In addition, investigators raided the head office of Hanwha Group, believing that one of its employees, whose identity has been withheld, was involved in the leak.
“The prosecution only searched and seized the office of an individual in connection with the document leak,” said a prosecutor close to the investigation.
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Chung, who served the president until the mid-2000s when Park was a member of the conservative party, is scheduled to appear for questioning Wednesday over allegations he colluded with other presidential aides to influence state affairs, including the president’s personnel choices.
The inspectors, currently posted in one of the Seoul police agency’s intelligence divisions, are suspected of copying Cheong Wa Dae documents that were in possession of police Superintendent Park Gwan-cheon and providing some of the information to the media.
Park is accused of compiling and leaking reports on Chung. Until February he had served in Cheong Wa Dae’s department dealing with discipline within the civil service under Cho Eung-cheon, who has since been replaced.
The prosecution, meanwhile, is said to have determined that the alleged secret meetings between former and incumbent aides of President Park Geun-hye is based on false information.
Until the early hours of Tuesday, the investigators questioned Park Gwan-cheon, his informant, who is a former tax official, and presidential aide Kim Choon-sik. During questioning, Park is reported to have gone back on his earlier claims and confessed that Kim was not his source.
Chung and Cheong Wa Dae officials have filed defamation suits against the daily Segye Ilbo, which first carried the story, while the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy has filed a criminal complaint against Chung for interfering with state affairs.
In the ensuing investigation it was revealed that his informant was the former tax official, who claimed to have gained the information from Kim.
Following the 16-hour questioning, Kim emphasized that all related claims were false, while the Park and his informant remained mostly silent.
“The prosecution will soon uncover the truth. The (claims about) the meeting are obviously false,” Kim said.
Regarding his relationship with the informant, Kim said that they first met after he was assigned to Cheong Wa Dae and that he learned later that they studied at the same university. Kim, however, did not elaborate on why he met Park’s informant.
The police officer declined to comment on the grounds that the investigation is ongoing.
By Choi He-suk and news reports (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)
