▲ Former Gyeonggi Province Vice Governor for Peace Lee Hwa-young
An SBS investigation has confirmed that a polygraph test conducted on former Gyeonggi Province Vice Governor for Peace Lee Hwa-young regarding the so-called "salmon and alcohol party" allegations found his statement that he "drank alcohol in the prosecution's interrogation room" to be highly credible.
According to the integrated psychological analysis report from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office (SPO) Forensic Science Department, obtained by SBS, both the physiological response test and behavioral analysis conducted during the polygraph examination indicated that Lee's statements were highly reliable.
The SPO investigated whether soju was brought into the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office interrogation room 1313 or the video recording room on May 17, 2023—the date the "salmon and alcohol party" controversy allegedly occurred—and whether Lee and former Ssangbangwool Group Chairman Kim Sung-tae consumed the alcohol.
The report, dated April 30, concluded that Lee's statement that he "drank alcohol in the video recording room of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office room 1313 on May 17, 2023" is likely truthful, citing the results of the psychophysiological test as primary evidence.
The psychophysiological test operates on the principle that when a subject lies, the fear of being caught triggers psychological changes, which in turn cause changes in physiological responses. The report noted that no significant anomalies were detected in Lee's physical responses during the examination.
These findings from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office were submitted to the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office Human Rights Violation Task Force, which has been investigating the allegations since last year, and the results were used as evidence in disciplinary proceedings against Prosecutor Park Sang-yong.
The Supreme Prosecutors' Office stated that it asked the same questions more than three times to verify the consistency of Lee's physiological responses.
Furthermore, the SPO determined through behavioral analysis that Lee's statements were highly credible, noting that they did not observe various behavioral signals typically associated with intentional distortion of facts while he was answering questions about the alleged drinking.
The report added that Lee was fully aware of the possibility that his memory of the events could have been contaminated while recalling them during the interrogation, and that he responded by saying "I am not sure" regarding parts where his memory was unclear.
The report also explained that "behavioral patterns typically seen in individuals who distort or conceal the truth were not observed."
The Seoul High Prosecutors' Office task force recently submitted this report to the Suwon District Court, which is presiding over the jury trial for Lee's perjury charges, and the contents are expected to be used as reference material for the jurors' deliberations.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.