The Ministry of Justice's recent investigation into allegations related to the Suwon Prosecutor's Office, particularly surrounding the so-called 'salmon and alcohol party,' has uncovered troubling practices during the investigative procedures. Between February 8 and December 12, 2023, over 130 investigations were conducted in a specific prosecutor's office, where key figures such as former Ssangbangwool Chairman Kim Sung-tae and his alleged co-conspirators were repeatedly summoned simultaneously for questioning. This approach raises severe questions about the integrity of their testimonies and whether the co-accused were allowed to collude on their statements, particularly given that many of these investigations occurred even on holidays when other suspects were not being interrogated.

Concerns have been voiced by prison guards involved in the process, who expressed their doubts about the effectiveness of separating co-accused individuals during interrogations. Reports indicate that the co-accused were often gathered in a seminar room labeled as a 'storage' area, allowing them ample opportunity to converse freely before or after their individual sessions. Witness statements suggest that the structure of the investigations undermined their integrity, as the co-accused were given the means to discuss their narratives and potentially align their testimonies with one another. This could significantly impact the outcomes of the trials and contribute to broader questions about judicial integrity in high-profile cases.

Furthermore, on September 5 of the previous year, the former deputy governor of Gyeonggi Province, Lee Hwa-young, revealed under ministry investigation that Kim Sung-tae had pressured him in meetings, asserting that they had already coordinated their statements and implicitly threatened that any cooperation from him was essential for their collective defense strategy. These revelations not only highlight the challenges within the prosecutorial conduct but also suggest a possible systematic issue in managing co-accused individuals, where protective measures appear to have been insufficient or wholly ineffective.