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Kim Keon Hee, wife of former President Yoon Suk Yeol. (Photo = Yonhap News) |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] The special prosecutor team led by Min Jung-ki accelerated its investigation into allegations that South Korean First Lady Kim Keon-hee’s family benefited from a controversial route change to the Yangpyeong Expressway.
On July 15, the team began questioning five key personnel from Korea Expressway Corporation and Donghae Engineering & Consultants at its office in KT Gwanghwamun Building West, Seoul. These individuals were directly involved in the design and engineering of the highway project.
Among those summoned was Lee Sang-hwa, Vice President of Donghae Engineering, who appeared around 9:40 a.m. but declined to answer media questions regarding alleged collusion with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) or potential quid pro quo arrangements.
One Korea Expressway Corporation official stated they were summoned as a “reference witness,” yet their role as a project executor places them at the center of the investigation.
The core focus of the probe is whether the expressway’s route was deliberately altered to benefit land owned by the First Lady’s family in Gangsa-myeon, Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province. The revised terminus route is alleged to have significantly boosted the value of the family-owned land, prompting public suspicion of preferential treatment.
On the previous day, the special prosecutor team carried out a sweeping search and seizure operation targeting the MOLIT Minister’s Office, Public Relations Office, Audit Office, and Highway Policy Division, as well as the design departments of Korea Expressway Corporation, Donghae Engineering, and Kyungdong Engineering.
The search warrant reportedly named 14 individuals as suspects, including former MOLIT Minister Won Hee-ryong, who now faces charges of abuse of authority and breach of duty.
알파경제 Kim Jisun (stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
