[Exclusive] Yangpyeong Township Chief Dies by Suicide After Special Counsel Interrogation — Leaves Note Alleging “Coercive Investigation”
Jeong had worked as a public official in Yangpyeong County for 30 years
[Choice Times=Byungtae Kim, Staff Reporter]
A local township chief in Yangpyeong who was questioned by the special counsel team investigating allegations involving Kim Keon-hee, the First Lady, has died by suicide after leaving a handwritten note accusing investigators of coercive interrogation.
On September 10, the first workday after the Chuseok holiday, colleagues went to the home of Jeong Hee-cheol(57), head of Danwol Township, after he failed to show up for work or answer his phone. They found him deceased at his residence in Yangpyeong-eup.
According to the suicide note, Jeong appeared to have taken his life on September 3 — one day after being questioned by the special counsel team of Min Joong-ki in connection with allegations over the Kim family’s land holdings in Yangpyeong.
In his note, Jeong wrote:
“The first day of questioning at the special counsel’s office was so exhausting. I just wanted to leave this world. Even when I said I didn’t know or couldn’t remember, they kept hammering me. I told the truth, but they called it a lie.”
He also wrote:
“I couldn’t sleep the night before and hadn’t eaten anything. They kept insisting the county head ordered me… Under intense pressure from the investigator, I ended up making a statement about something I have no memory of.”
He continued:
“The investigator wrote the statement however they wanted and forced me to agree to it. When I came home, I felt pathetic and couldn’t sleep.”
“After being humiliated like this, I feel too tired, too broken. I hate this world. I hate people. I hate the disgrace and contempt,” the note read.
Jeong had worked as a public official in Yangpyeong County for 30 years and was appointed Danwol Township chief in July last year.
Attorney Park Kyung-ho, who represented Jeong, wrote on Facebook:
“The political revenge–driven special counsel has finally killed someone. During the investigation, the special counsel’s team subjected him to coercive questioning, pressure, leading questions, repeated late-night interrogations, and forced false statements.”
Park claimed that the case involving the Gongheung District development project had previously been cleared by the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police, but the special counsel reopened it and aggressively pursued those involved with subpoenas and raids.
He further alleged:
“Even after my client repeatedly denied the allegations, investigators forced him to confess and lie. Powerless, he ended up stamping his seal on statements written by the investigators in a humiliating situation.”
Park concluded:
“Overcome by guilt, shame, and humiliation, my client made an extreme choice. The special counsel’s team has blood on its hands.”
He added that he will file criminal complaints against Special Counsel Min and the investigators for abuse of authority, cruel treatment, and falsification of official documents, vowing to “hold them legally accountable so that no more innocent citizens suffer under unchecked prosecutorial power.”
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