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| ▲ Prosecutor Kim Dong-hee of the Busan High Prosecutors Office arrives at the office of special counsel Ann Gweon-seob in Seoul on Jan. 7, 2026. (Yonhap) |
special counsel-prosecutor
Special counsel grills prosecutor over alleged intervention in Coupang probe
SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Yonhap) -- A senior prosecutor appeared at a special counsel office on Wednesday for questioning about alleged intervention in the investigation into unpaid severance pay at e-commerce giant Coupang Inc.
Prosecutor Kim Dong-hee of the Busan High Prosecutors Office arrived at the office of special counsel Ann Gweon-seob in Seoul in the morning to be grilled as a suspect accused of abuse of power and leaking official secrets.
The case dates back to May 2023, when Coupang allegedly changed its employment rules to the disadvantage of its employees and failed to pay their severance pay. In January last year, the Bucheon branch office of the labor ministry sent the case to the prosecution with a recommendation for indictment. But the Incheon District Prosecutors Office's Bucheon branch decided not to indict the company in April.
In October, prosecutor Moon Ji-seok, who was in charge of the case at that time, claimed in a National Assembly audit that senior prosecutors, including Kim, then deputy head of the Bucheon branch, and Uhm Hee-joon, then head of the Bucheon branch, pressured him to drop the charges.
Kim is also suspected of providing Coupang-related investigative information to the company's lawyers. The special counsel team raided the offices of Kim and Uhm late last month.
Kim told reporters in front of the special counsel office that the allegation of her intervention in the Coupang investigation is a one-sided claim by Moon and the special counsel will reveal the truth.
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