Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 245

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Trial (1)
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The Special Prosecutor’s Office was in chaos. Documents piled high on carts continued to stream in relentlessly.
“Is this also related to the Jaejeong Construction embezzlement suspicions?”
“Yes.”
“Then send it over there.”
These were documents prepared by Chief Prosecutor Jo Woo-jae. The evidence obtained with the help of Seo Jin’s Father, Kim Jun-man, was so voluminous that the warehouse space we were using was cramped to bursting.
“What about this?”
“It’s evidence of an attempt to murder Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk. We’ve identified all the police officers involved.”
“Put that over there. Prepare for immediate detention.”
At the instruction of Lee Du-jin, the special prosecutor, an employee wheeled the cart away with a screech.
Moments later, Lee Du-jin brushed the dust from his hands as he surveyed the documents filling the office.
“As you understand… we must read through all of this by tonight.”
“Oh, by tonight?”
“Yes.”
The presidential election was imminent. If we dragged our feet, we’d ruin everything we’d accomplished. The case could fizzle out, and we’d be recorded as an incompetent special prosecution team that resolved nothing. We had to move as quickly as possible.
“I’ll cover the late-night meal.”
At Lee Du-jin’s words, the members of the special prosecution team nodded. They felt that although the work was grueling, the investigation that had been stalled was finally progressing.
As the team members pulled out boxes and spread documents across the floor, Lee Du-jin stepped into the hallway and pressed his phone to his ear. The number saved in his phone was Seo Jin’s.
“Kim Young-jun is thrashing about. We need to find evidence… quickly.”
Kim Young-jun was denying everything. Watching all that was unfolding, he continued to cry out about political conspiracy. Thanks to that, many people who loved conspiracy theories and those who had supported Baek Ki-ho were cursing the ruling party government.
-Here we go again.
-What are they trying to hide?
-A dog with shit on it criticizing a dog with chaff on it.
-Are there no celebrity scandals?
-Spouting nonsense to maintain power. Disgusting. Ptui, ptui, ptui.
So there were two things we had to do to detain Kim Young-jun.
One was to finish off Baek Ki-ho.
Baek Ki-ho was clinging to the edge of a cliff by a single finger. But he too was shamelessly denying the situation.
“I received money from Shinma Group? I don’t recall any such thing. Perhaps my family received it without my knowledge!”
Though Shin Myung-jin, the eldest son of Shinma Group and vice chairman, had been detained, Baek Ki-ho was holding firm.
“Sexual harassment of a female prosecutor? Don’t judge based on that single clip. I’m a former judge. I know well what it means to sexually harass a prosecutor—would I have acted that way? That prosecutor spoke disrespectfully first, and I simply lost my temper without thinking.”
Seo Jin’s voice came through the receiver as Lee Du-jin listened.
-Reporter Lee Eun-ha will keep exposing Baek Ki-ho. And… the ruling party is also preparing to take him down, so don’t worry.
The ruling party was in a festive mood. The presidential election had begun without a star politician, and while Baek Ki-ho, the opposition heavyweight, had been devouring over 50% of the support, the ruling party had been crushed under a sense of defeat.
But then Baek Ki-ho wavered. With scandals continuing to break, his support plummeted from over 50% to half in an instant. Now he was locked in a neck-and-neck race with the ruling party’s candidate, separated by only 3%.
Seo Jin’s voice continued.
-When the support rates reverse, the ruling party will move to have Baek Ki-ho detained.
The Ruling Party is still holding back. For now, they’re merely using Civic Organizations as a front to protest Baek Ki-ho’s withdrawal from the race. But the moment the approval ratings flip, they’ll step into the spotlight. Each and every one of them will denounce Baek Ki-ho, desperate to etch themselves into the public’s mind as righteous politicians.
“What happened to the person who had that evidence?”
Park Jung-gil fled. Of course, the escape was orchestrated by Seo Jin’s instructions. That dawn, Jang Seok-min’s subordinate headed to the hospital and succeeded in extracting him.
But that was where it ended. He still feared Kim Young-jun. In Seo Jin’s grasp, he believed he could be killed by Kim Young-jun at any moment. So when the vehicle stopped at a rest stop, he fled.
-We’ll find him soon. Don’t worry and proceed.
The call with Seo Jin ended. Lee Du-jin exhaled a long sigh and shifted in his seat. His gaze drifted toward the window. The night of Seoul stretched before him. And news of Kim Young-jun’s scandal continued to pour in, roiling the entire nation.
“All of this….”
It was accomplished by Seo Jin alone. No one had believed that such colossal monsters as Baek Ki-ho or Kim Young-jun could ever be brought down.
Yet Seo Jin had cornered them. He’d even thrown Shin Myung-jin, the eldest son of Shinma Group, into the same pit.
“He’s a remarkable man.”
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“Park Jung-gil still hasn’t been caught?”
“No.”
Kim Young-jun sat in the Lawyer Visitation Room, a cigarette between his lips, continuing to fire questions.
“How many suspicions do I have against me?”
“Excluding the trivial ones….”
The lawyer licked his dry lips and opened his notebook.
The suspicions against Kim Young-jun were….
-Bribery and acceptance of bribes from the political sphere.
-Attempted murder of Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk and Seo Jin.
-Embezzlement from Jaejeong Construction.
A smile played at the corners of Kim Young-jun’s mouth as he listened to the lawyer.
“Nothing is certain.”
Kim Young-jun believed he could weather this. The bribery charges were mere suspicions. Since the money had been transferred through shell accounts and overseas accounts, it would be difficult to trace.
The attempted murder charge against Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk could be dismissed as baseless. The foreigners present at the scene were merely foreign laborers. As for Seo Jin, with Park Jung-gil missing, there was nothing more to say.
The embezzlement suspicions from Jaejeong Construction were the same. There was no actual evidence of money changing hands. He could claim they fabricated the evidence.
“Who is the judge?”
The lawyer flipped through his notebook again. He adjusted his glasses and opened his mouth.
“It’s Presiding Judge Lee Han-young.”
“Ah….”
Kim Young-jun nodded as if he knew the judge well, his face breaking into a satisfied smile.
“That man… he’s famous for being an upright judge who doesn’t bend to political pressure. But he has a weakness. He’s an evidence fundamentalist. He won’t convict unless clear facts are established.”
Kim Young-jun tapped the notebook the lawyer had brought with his finger and continued.
“Muddy the waters on every charge. Cloud the truth. Blind the judge’s eyes and shake the people’s emotions. Then you’ll receive the money I promised you.”
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“You won’t be able to escape the embezzlement charge.”
But that alone won’t be enough to completely destroy Kim Young-jun. In the eyes of ordinary people, the Jaejeong Construction matter is nothing more than a family dispute—nothing more, nothing less.
“Those who cry conspiracy believe the government exploited that conflict to win the presidential election.”
And Kim Young-jun is manipulating public psychology.
“As long as Kim Young-jun keeps bringing politics into this, we need something more concrete than Jaejeong Construction—something people can truly trust. Otherwise, the public won’t believe us.”
It was a gopchang restaurant. Seo Jin sat across from Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk, clinking glasses. Neither man’s expression was bright.
Kim Young-jun is a monster. He’ll exploit any situation to survive. To drive the knife cleanly through his throat, we need something absolutely certain.
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk brought the glass to his lips and spoke.
“Tomorrow I’m going to tear apart the Prosecutor General’s Office. We found nothing at his residence, but… something will turn up there.”
“….”
“And we’re investigating everyone who’s ever had a single conversation with Kim Young-jun. We’ve already summoned several as witnesses.”
Seo Jin, who had been listening quietly to Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk, opened his bag and handed over a stack of documents.
“This… it’s data that came from Eom Si-young’s phone back then. Please investigate all the phone numbers listed here as well.”
“Okay.”
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk gathered the documents and poured more liquor into his empty glass. Then he glanced at Seo Jin and asked.
“Have you been home yet?”
Since arresting Kim Young-jun, Seo Jin hadn’t returned home. He’d received a few clothes through his younger brother Jin-young and had been living between the office and a hotel.
“…Not yet. I don’t know how to face my father. I don’t know what to say to him.”
Seo Jin carries evidence that Kim Young-jun murdered his parents. The question of how to tell Kim Jun-man haunts him. The shock that Kim Jun-man—a man who cherishes family above all else—will endure will surely be beyond imagination.
“That’s your problem. Stop worrying about what comes next and just do it. Go see his face first. How worried must your parents be? News that your younger brother tried to kill his own son has spread everywhere, hasn’t it? Just go home and show them you’re safe.”
“Yes.”
Seo Jin picked up his glass with a bitter smile. His reflection wavered in the rippling liquor. The face of Seo Jun-kyung and the face of Seo Jin seemed to overlap, then fade away.
As Seo Jin drained his glass in silence, Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk picked up some gopchang with his chopsticks and asked.
“But what about Park Jung-gil? Still no word?”
Jang Seok-min’s subordinates are searching the entire country. They’re checking various entertainment establishments and hideouts through connected gangsters, but no news has come in yet.
“We’ll bring him in before the trial. Don’t worry.”
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-The trial of Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun, called an unprecedented case in history, is being broadcast live on terrestrial television. In response to the public’s concerns about political interference, everything will be disclosed transparently….
The front of the Courtroom swarmed with people. Reporters, related officials, and those who came to witness the trial. On one side, protests were in full swing.
-Release Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun!
-Release him! Release him!
To them, Kim Young-jun was like a martyr who had knelt before the blade of politics. Because of one man named Kim Young-jun, South Korea was tearing itself apart.
Then Kim Young-jun stepped off the bus. With a roar, reporters surged toward him.
“Kim Young-jun! Kim Young-jun! Kim Young-jun!”
People were chanting his name. Kim Young-jun walked toward the Courtroom, then stopped and turned his gaze toward them. Looking at them with confident eyes, he spoke.
“The truth is!”
At those words, the world fell silent. Kim Young-jun continued slowly.
“Only hidden. But someday, it will be revealed.”
“Wow! Kim Young-jun! Kim Young-jun!”
Kim Young-jun did not bow his head. He straightened his spine and walked forward with unshakeable confidence.
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The Courtroom fell into profound silence.
A chill seemed to permeate the air itself.
A political trial unfolding on the eve of the presidential election.
Lee Du-jin, the Special Prosecutor, and Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk seated beside him exchanged whispered words while surveying their surroundings.
And Kim Young-jun, seated in the defendant’s box alongside his attorney, observed the two men with an expression of supreme self-assurance.
When Kim Young-jun’s gaze met that of Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk, he opened his mouth.
“I’ve always told my prosecutors one thing: do not be ashamed before the law. Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk—are you not ashamed right now?”
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk shrugged his shoulders.
“Ashamed? I studied like a dog to become a prosecutor, and the fact that someone like you was ever Prosecutor General is genuinely humiliating.”
This was a battle of nerves before the trial even began.
Yet it was Kim Young-jun who possessed the advantage. He believed that if he could only evade the embezzlement charges, victory would be within his grasp, and he chuckled softly to himself.
Then came the moment. The Courtroom Officer’s voice rang out through the chamber.
“The trial is now in session. All parties, please rise.”
The door swung open with a sharp crack, and the judicial panel entered the Courtroom.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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