Kwon Chang-yang's Second Special Counsel Team Plans to Indict Former First Lady Kim Keon Hee's Ex-Spouse and 20 Others Just Days Before Probe Ends

Special Counsel Team Six Days From End of Probe, Finalizing Indictment List

The Kwon Chang-yang Special Counsel Team, which has been investigating remaining suspicions following the third special counsel, plans to indict around 20 individuals, including former First Lady Kim Keon Hee’s ex-spouse and former National Security Office Senior Administrative Officer Cho Sung-hyun, six days before the investigation concludes on the 23rd. According to Yonhap News, the special counsel team is wrapping up investigations this week and proceeding with final summonses and indictment procedures. As the investigation period reaches the legal maximum of 180 days, time to decide on indictments has effectively run out.

The second comprehensive special counsel can investigate for a maximum of six months under the special counsel law and cannot be extended. Consequently, the team faces a binary choice: either refer all unresolved suspicions to trial or conclude with non-indictment due to insufficient evidence. Given the limitations of the special counsel investigation, the decision to conclude with mass indictments at the end of the probe is interpreted as an intention to hand the controversies over to the judiciary for a final ruling.

Indictment Targets and Points of Contention

According to reports, the list of indictment candidates includes former First Lady Kim Keon Hee’s ex-spouse, former Senior Administrative Officer Cho Sung-hyun, and former Vice Defense Minister Hong Jang-won. However, reports suggest that there were differing opinions within the special counsel team regarding the possibility of proving allegations against former officials Hong Jang-won and Cho Sung-hyun. News Tomato noted that the investigation results regarding allegations that former President Yoon Suk-yeol and former Defense Minister Shin Won-sik disseminated messages justifying martial law are the final variable in the indictment decision.

In the case of former First Lady Kim Keon Hee’s ex-spouse, multiple incidents are intertwined, including suspicions regarding the receipt of luxury bags and allegations of stock price manipulation. As some of these cases previously received non-indictment decisions during the first investigation, whether new evidence overturning past decisions was secured during this re-investigation is expected to serve as a critical benchmark for the court’s judgment.

Special Counsel Timeline Overlaps with Political Schedule

Meanwhile, the National Assembly is set to hold its first plenary session of the August extraordinary session on the 20th and is approaching the processing of fast-tracked bills. The Democratic Party plans to push for real estate-related bills as well, raising expectations of a clash with the People Power Party. As both ruling and opposition parties are likely to utilize the special counsel results in the political landscape, the disclosure of the indictment list is expected to directly impact the bill review phase.

Additionally, the appointment of a special counsel to investigate the ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections is imminent as the candidate pool has been narrowed down to two. The People Power Party maintains that the appointment of the Election Commission special counsel should be linked to a recount of ballots, suggesting that the indictment results of the second comprehensive special counsel could serve as leverage in opposition-party negotiations for the subsequent special counsel phase.

Future Outlook and Judicial Risks

Over the remaining six days, the special counsel team is expected to finalize cases by proceeding with both referral for indictment and decisions against prosecution. If the mass indictment of about 20 people materializes, related trials will proceed through first-instance proceedings lasting several months. Since the alleged facts remain in a pre-judgment phase until a conviction is finalized, the eventual verdict is expected to be the decisive factor.

Legal circles anticipate that the court will rigorously scrutinize evidentiary power, statutes of limitations, and the scope of relevance. Given that the special counsel investigation is structured to conclude in line with the political schedule, there are criticisms that proving guilt is more crucial than the indictment itself. Once the indictment details and the composition of charges for each case are made public after the investigation ends on the 23rd, the political schedule and judicial procedures are expected to intertwine, causing repercussions for some time.