Appears every time he goes to Optimus, a 36-year-old administration mystery

Kwan-seok Yoon, Chairman of the Political Affairs Committee of the National Assembly (center), shares views with Democratic Party Secretary Kim Byung-wook (left) and Seong Il-jong, Secretary of People’s Power, before the audit of the National Assembly held at the National Assembly on the 12th. The political affairs committee decided to adopt the former administrator of the Blue House Lee Mo as a witness late at night on the 13th. [연합뉴스]

Why was my aunt (36), a former executive of the Blue House Office of Civil Affairs, selected as a key figure in the Optimus case, as a witness before the political affairs committee of the National Assembly?

There are many words against in the policy on the adoption of a full audit witness on the 23rd by the political affairs committee of the National Assembly. The ruling party rejected the adoption of witnesses in matters of fierce battles, such as the suspicion of the son of the Minister of Justice, Choo Mi-ae, in the case of damage to the body after the murder of a civilian in North Korea, and the former administrator was unusually adopted as a witness. Why.

Former manager Lee is the spouse of Optimus’ internal director Moo Yoon (moderation), owned a 9.8% stake in Optimus and is also the largest shareholder (50% stake) in Septillion, which was designated as the company of Optimus money laundering paper. The Rural Community Corporation, where Lee was a non-executive director in the past, suffered a large loss after investing 3 billion won in the internal workplace welfare fund at the Optimus Fund in January. That’s why people pointed to it as “a link to prove power-type corruption.”

As a result of JoongAng Ilbo’s interview on the 14th, the adoption of witnesses by the former administrator was decided in an evening meeting with the opposition secretaries of the National Assembly’s political affairs committee the day before. In addition to the former administrator, the people’s power demanded as witnesses the presidents of the main national financial holding companies. In some cases, lawmakers from the Democratic Party requested the assistance of corporate CEOs. In general, the negotiations for the adoption of witnesses for the state administration are carried out in such a way that the opposition parties remove one by one from the list of requests of the others. An opposition adviser to the political affairs committee said: “Before the former administrator, the Democratic Party seems to have focused on removing the president of the financial holding company, which has a lot to do with government policy.”

However, the Democratic Party previously rejected the adoption of all Optimus-related witnesses requested by the opposition party, including former Deputy Prime Minister Lee Heon-jae, former Attorney General Chae Dong-wook, former chairman of Nara Bank Yoo and former director Yun Mo Septillian. “This former administrator has a problem even if he shows up for the state administration audit, and even if he doesn’t attend. That is why it is said that the adoption of witnesses seems like a kind of accident ”(Democratic Party officials). Another adviser to the Political Affairs Committee of the Democratic Party said: “It would have been difficult to reject the former executive, whose suspicion has been concentrated recently, in a situation in which he rejected so many witnesses from the opposition parties.”

It is also interpreted that the ruling that the former administrator was simply a ‘pen’ became the precedent for accepting the request for opposition witnesses. A key member of the Democratic Party said, “The 20-person list is just a lobbying list claimed by Optimus people.” Another passport official also said: “As a result of this former administrator’s self-investigation, only the husband was involved, but his direct connection was insufficient.”

However, on the 23rd, the opposition party is willing to turn the government office into a fierce battlefield. A people power official said: “Because this former administrator worked at the Blue House in the current administration, he is a key figure in this case.” “I will reveal how I got into the Blue House while I had a stake in Optimus.”

Lawyer Moo Yoon (Optimus CEO, Arrest Charge) attends a warrant deliberation held at the then Seoul Central District Court in July. According to the legal profession, attorney Yoon told management when the situation broke out in April: “I will speak to my wife (former administrator) at the Blue House to prevent the situation.”[연합뉴스]

The first issue is the wide range of activities of the former administrator, something unusual for a 30-year-old lawyer. This is because the former administrator, who opened in 2012, has a relatively short experience, but has worked on several passports. The former administrator was the attorney for the ‘National Intelligence Service Self-Containment Case’ (June 2014-March 2018), Legal Advisor to the Seoul Metropolitan Government (October 2017-October last year) and Legal Advisor to the Service of National Intelligence (February 2018-October last year)), and then entered the Blue House.

Suspicion of participation in the Optimus incident Who was the former administrator of the Blue House? Chart = Reporter Cha Junhong

In a call with JoongAng Ilbo, former Democratic Party legislator Lee Jong-geol, who was the defendant in the NIS self-containment case, said: “Attorney Gwang-cheol Lee (currently Secretary for Civil Administration of the Blue House), who he served as the referee’s defense, used this former administrator as an assistant attorney, and the former administrator did not have a leading role. “I know,” he said, “I don’t know who included him in the attorneys.” A person who was directly involved at the time pointed out: “The party knows the details of the matter” and said: “It was a problem that involved an employee of the National Intelligence Service.

That does not mean that he played a prominent role in relation to the Democratic Party. In October 2015, Moon Jae-in, at the time as the representative of the New Democratic Political Union party (the former Democratic Party), worked with Kim Jo-won as a member of the party’s audit committee, but later did not assume the party related tasks. One official said: “I heard the name of this former administrator for the first time since the Optimus incident.” A senior Democratic Party member in Seoul said: “I haven’t heard the name of the former administrator and the name of my husband, lawyer Yoon, so I don’t know who recommended him.”

Optimus Asset Management’s office in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, is firmly closed. When Attorney General Yoon Seok-yeol issued an order to increase the number of staff on the 13th, the team dedicated to the Optimus case was expanded to 18 prosecutors. [중앙포토]

Although he has not established extensive relationships with various passport figures, there is a view within the Democratic Party that there is a possibility that he has established close relationships with key members of the regime. A member of the Democratic Party, who is well aware of the situation in Seoul, said: “If the case was recruited at the request of the party, it would have gone through the Executive Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, but this has never been the case. It means there was a personal ‘chain’. “A passport person who knows the Blue House situation well said:” When the former administrator came in, the source also said, ‘Who the hell is this line?’ So it is speculated that my husband’s connection from Hanyang University worked. ”

Reporter Kim Hyo-seong [email protected]