On May 14, the Secretary-General of the People Power Party, Sung Il Jong refuted the assessment that the investigation team led by First Lady Kim Keon Hee was effectively disbanded due to prosecutor personnel changes, saying, “Just because they say to thwart the investigation, will it be thwarted?”
Sung made this note during an interview with SBS Radio Kim Tae-hyun’s Political Show, saying, “I cannot agree with the idea of hampering the investigation.” On May 13, the Ministry of Justice replaced all the command lines that had been investigating the allegations of receiving a Dior bag and manipulating the Deutsch Motors stock price by First Lady Kim, when it promoted and transferred 39 prosecutors and above.
Sung said, “Even if a few members of the command change, aren’t prosecutors doing it practically? The leadership above provides direction,” and added, “The substantial investigation will be carried out by the prosecutors and investigators themselves.”
When asked if it was correct to proceed with the investigation of the First Lady regardless of the prosecutor’s personnel changes, he replied, “Yes,” and added, “Even if they say not to do so, will they listen? It will go as programmed.” Sung also spoke about his dinner with President Yoon Suk Yeol and the non-standing committee on May 13, stating, “There was no talk related to the party conference,” and emphasized, “In the case of elections, we should capture public sentiment well and approach the people more humbly. The party should take the lead in such matters, and the presidential office will respect and accept the party’s opinion as much as possible.”
Regarding the possibility of holding a party conference in July, Sung explained, “We did not discuss it. But If we do the reverse calculation, we need to create a preparation committee TF, form a delegate meeting, and go through local tours and debates. When we prepare these things in order, wouldn’t it be around July?”
When asked, “Is it your position that there is no need to artificially delay it until August or September?” he replied, “Isn’t it right to do everything as naturally as water flows?”
