[Choice Times=Bosik Choi, Publisher]

After Jeong Hee-cheol, a township chief in Yangpyeong, left a handwritten note accusing investigators of coercive questioning and then took his own life, the special counsel team led by Min Joong-ki quickly released a statement emphasizing how “well” they treated him during the interrogation.

The statement detailed, almost defensively, that investigators provided Jeong with lunch, dinner, and three breaks during questioning and even escorted him to the building’s exit afterward. In effect, the subtext of the statement was:“We treated him kindly, so if he died, that’s his own issue.”

According to the statement, Jeong was interrogated from 10:10 a.m. on September 2 until 12:52 a.m. the next day. The special counsel also claimed that coercion was unlikely, pointing to external CCTV footage showing Jeong leaving the building. “We had already secured testimony from other public officials prior to questioning him,” they added, arguing there was no need to force a new statement.

They further stressed that Jeong had not been subjected to search or seizure, and unlike other officials who were questioned multiple times, he was summoned only once. The tone of the statement implied that this leniency was some sort of favor.

Yet, if the interrogation was merely “a procedural check,” why was he held for over 14 hours? Why the late-night questioning? And why did investigators keep pressing the same questions until they got the answers they wanted?

In his suicide note, Jeong wrote:

“Even when I said I didn’t know or couldn’t remember, they kept pressing me. I told the truth, but they said it was a lie. They forced me to make statements about things I don’t even remember.”

He added:

“The investigator wrote the statement however they wanted and forced me to agree. After this humiliation, I don’t want to work or live anymore. I’m so tired. I hate this world, I hate people. I despise the humiliation and contempt.”

The fact that words like “humiliation,” “disgrace,” and “contempt” appeared in his note suggests that whatever “good treatment” he received during questioning left deep emotional wounds.

What shocked many further was the special counsel’s attempt to minimize the significance of his suicide note. They described it as “a document currently in circulation” and claimed it was “not the actual letter found at the scene.” This framing quickly influenced media coverage — reports began referring to it as a “memo” rather than a “suicide note.”

But a suicide note is precisely that: a written message left by someone who has decided to end their life. Whether it was left at the scene or given to a lawyer beforehand, Jeong’s handwritten note reflects his last will. By downgrading it to a mere “document,” the special counsel’s intention is obvious — to undermine its credibility and distance themselves from his death.

Jeong appears to have died on September 3, one day after being questioned in connection with the alleged preferential treatment involving land in Yangpyeong owned by the family of Kim Keon-hee, the First Lady. On September 10, after the Chuseok holiday, co-workers found his body at home when he didn’t show up for work.

The investigation focused on whether Kim’s family business received unfair development fee exemptions during the construction of an apartment complex in Gongheung-ri, Yangpyeong (2011–2016). But this period falls under the Park Geun-hye administration, not the current one — making it unrelated to presidential influence by Kim Keon-hee. The case had already been closed with no charges by the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police.

Nonetheless, Min’s special counsel reopened the case, pledging to “thoroughly investigate all allegations involving Kim Keon-hee,” which led to Jeong’s interrogation. At the time, he was head of the Land Price Management Team in Yangpyeong’s Resident Support Division.

Jeong had worked as a public official in Yangpyeong for 30 years and was promoted to township chief in July last year.

#SpecialCounsel #CoerciveInterrogation #YangpyeongCase