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2w ago

Special Counsel Intensifies Probe with Lee Jong-ho Questioning, State Agency Raids

It advances the special counsel’s investigation into alleged influence peddling, stock manipulation and election meddling tied to Yoon Suk Yeol’s administration.

Former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo appears at special counsel Cho Eun-suk's office in southern Seoul on July 2, 2025, to undergo questioning over former President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law bid. (Yonhap)
Maj. Gen. Kim Yong-dae, chief of the Drone Operations Command, speaks to reporters upon arrival at the Seoul High Prosecutors Office in the capital on July 17, 2025, to be questioned by a special counsel team over former President Yoon Suk Yeol's insurrection charges in connection with his Dec. 3 martial law declaration. (Yonhap)
President Lee Jae Myung presides over a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul on July 22, 2025. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
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Overview

  • Special counsel Min Joong-ki summoned Lee Jong-ho on July 21 to question him over alleged influence peddling schemes in which he is accused of securing a suspended sentence for a business partner in exchange for 81 million won.
  • Investigators simultaneously carried out raids on the Export-Import Bank of Korea, the Finance Ministry, the Foreign Ministry and Heerim Architects & Planners to probe state-funded projects linked to the Unification Church.
  • Former President Yoon Suk Yeol and former first lady Kim Keon Hee were formally summoned as criminal suspects, with Yoon due to appear on July 29 and Kim on August 6.
  • Kim faces 19 distinct allegations ranging from two stock price manipulation schemes and acceptance of luxury gifts from a shaman to meddling in candidate nominations for by-elections and general elections.
  • Yoon is also accused of interfering in People Power Party candidate selections and faces a parallel special counsel probe into his December 2024 martial law declaration and insurrection charges.