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It has been confirmed that the passport validity of the current and former Chairman Ssang Bul-Bul, who is known to have gone abroad after being subject to the prosecution's investigation, has been invalidated.

In addition, the arrest of Lee Hwa-young, former vice governor of Gyeonggi-do, gave momentum to the investigation.



Reporter Shin Yong-sik reports exclusively.



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The personnel confirmed to have suspended the validity of passports in connection with the prosecution investigation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are former chairman Kim Seong-tae and current chairman Yang Seon-gil.



Earlier, the prosecution requested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to invalidate the passports of five executives, including former Chairman Kim, who were fleeing overseas at the end of last month.



The Ministry of Foreign Affairs then ordered the return of passports to five domestic addresses, and former Chairman Kim and Chairman Yang received this notice on their behalf, and the validity of the passport was suspended after two weeks passed the deadline for returning passports.



It is understood that the passports of the remaining three executives have not yet been suspended.



As his passport expired, former Chairman Kim, who is known to be staying in Thailand, was unable to travel to another country through legal procedures.



Prosecutors believe that the timing of securing new recruits will be extended.



Former Gyeonggi-do Peace Vice Governor Lee Hwa-young, a close aide to Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, was arrested early this morning (28th).



Even after resigning as an outside director in 2018, former Lieutenant Governor Lee is still being charged with receiving and using a corporate card and three vehicles from the SsangBall Group.



Prosecutors believe that former Lieutenant Governor Lee, in return, helped SsangBul Group promote economic cooperation projects with North Korea.



As the investigation progresses, it is noteworthy whether the prosecution's investigation will be extended to CEO Lee Jae-myung.



(Video editing: Park Chun-bae)