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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] SEOUL, November 5 (local time) — The Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office (SHPO) has commenced forced investigative measures against the Ssangbangwool Group, including a dawn raid of its subsidiary office, following suspicions that the group attempted to influence witness testimony through lavish entertainment and hospitality during the ongoing investigation of its remittances to North Korea.
At approximately 09:30 on November 5, the SHPO’s Infringement-on-Human-Rights Inspection Taskforce executed a search warrant at the headquarters of the group’s affiliate Vivien Co., Ltd. in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.
The action follows the SHPO’s recent formal indictment of former chairman Kim Seong‑tae and two group employees on suspicion of embezzlement and breach of trust. The investigation uncovered evidence that the group provided various forms of benefits to former chairman of the Asia-Pacific Peace Exchange Association, Ahn Boo‑soo, and his family in return for altering testimony in a key case concerning financial flows to North Korea.
According to the SHPO, the probe centres on allegations that during the original investigation by the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office, Kim and group staff brought in external food and alcohol paid via the company credit card during a visit by the Ahn family to the detention facility. These provisions are believed to have influenced Ahn’s reversal of testimony, which then supported a narrative implicating a political figure in a North Korean visit funding scandal.
The SHPO has indicated that depending on the results of this investigation and related inspection of the Suwon office, the direction of the broader remittance case may materially shift.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
