(Left) Korea Sport & Olympic Committee President Yoo Seung-min holding a press conference requesting entry into the gymnastics stadium (Right) Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Park Jeong-bo, who received a protest visit from National Assembly members regarding his "ruining the family" remark.

Questions have arisen suggesting that the police may have used the embezzlement investigation against Korea Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) President Yoo Seung-min as leverage to pressure him into holding a press conference and requesting the exercise of public authority, after he was investigated for alleged breach of trust.

According to comprehensive reporting by Hanmiilbo, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Financial Crime Investigation Unit summoned and investigated Yoo as a suspect for alleged breach of trust on the 8th.

Yoo is accused of receiving incentives related to attracting sponsorship for the Korea Table Tennis Association in his name while serving as its president. The police are investigating whether Yoo effectively received approximately 200 million won in incentives paid to his brother under a different name.

However, a week after Yoo's summons and investigation, on the morning of the 15th, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Park Jeong-bo disclosed the fact of Yoo's investigation on the 8th during a regular press briefing.

At the same briefing, Commissioner Park warned participants of a protest at the Jamsil vote counting station, stating, "You could ruin your family if you condone illegal activities and are subsequently implicated as an accomplice." He added that he would consider the police's future actions after observing the KSOC's press conference scheduled for that afternoon.

Yoo held a press conference with nine member sports associations that afternoon at the Olympic Parktel in Songpa-gu, Seoul.

He stated, "The damages due to the operational disruption have ballooned to 6 billion won," and requested the police to "deploy public authority as soon as possible to support the smooth operation of the secretariat."

The police mentioned the KSOC's press conference as a basis for future actions that morning, and in the afternoon, Yoo, who had been investigated by the police, requested the exercise of public authority citing significant damages.

The inflated 6 billion won damage claim is actually the budget scheduled for execution in June.

However, it was confirmed that the "6 billion won in damages" presented by Yoo to support the urgency of police entry was not the actual amount of damages incurred.

In response to Hanmiilbo's question about the specific damage situation, a KSOC official stated, "The situation is ongoing, so the full extent of damages has not been calculated," adding, "The 6 billion won is the amount that the nine member sports associations are scheduled to disburse by the end of June."

This means it is not a loss that has already occurred and cannot be recovered, but rather an amount that each sports association is scheduled to spend on project costs and personnel expenses by the end of this month.

The amount that may be delayed in execution and the actual damages incurred are entirely different concepts. Nevertheless, Yoo presented the planned expenditure as "damages due to operational disruption."

Multiple media outlets also reported, "Damages have ballooned to 6 billion won," and "The scale of damages reaches 6 billion won," without verifying separate calculation grounds.

Consequently, the figure of "6 billion won" was used as a key basis to highlight the urgency and legitimacy of the police entering the handball stadium.

Did the police know the content of the press conference in advance?

The core of the suspicion is not just that Yoo exaggerated the damages.

It is suggested that the police, who investigated Yoo for alleged breach of trust, used the ongoing investigation as leverage to demand or pressure Yoo to publicly request police entry.

For the police to forcibly remove protesters and enter the stadium, a clear request from the facility users or occupying organizations experiencing obstruction of business can serve as a crucial justification.

Yoo's press conference provided exactly that justification to the police. It created a scenario where the representative of the sports community publicly requested the exercise of public authority, claiming immense damages.

Commissioner Park's statement that he would "consider future police actions after observing the KSOC's press conference" even before it began is also questionable.

If the police did not know in advance what content and requests would be made at the press conference, there needs to be an explanation as to why they publicly mentioned an upcoming press conference as a criterion for future police actions.

The timeline also fuels suspicions.

The police investigated Yoo as a suspect on the 8th. On the morning of the 15th, Commissioner Park disclosed the investigation and linked it to the KSOC's press conference and future police actions. That afternoon, Yoo requested police entry, citing the unconfirmed 6 billion won as damages.

The following day, the 16th, the entry of personnel from sports associations under the KSOC into the handball stadium was pursued. Although a plan was made through mediation by the People Power Party for representatives of each association to retrieve necessary items, it was ultimately aborted when one participant at the scene blocked the entrance.

Was the embezzlement investigation a 'lever'?

So far, no testimony or documents have been released indicating that the police directly threatened Yoo or forced him to request public authority using the embezzlement investigation as a pretext.

However, the police's investigation of a suspect and the sports association's request for public authority occurred within a week, the head of the police department was awaiting the outcome before the press conference, and the key damage amount presented by Yoo was confirmed not to be actual damages.

There are reasons why this cannot be dismissed as mere coincidence.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency must clarify whether it had any contact with Yoo or KSOC officials between Yoo's summons and investigation on the 8th and the press conference on the 15th.

It must also be verified whether police officials or Songpa Police Station officials suggested holding the press conference, conveyed the need for a request for public authority, or were involved in the press conference script or presentation content.

In particular, the police must disclose whether they knew in advance that Yoo would announce "6 billion won in damages" and whether they verified if this amount was actual damages.

Yoo must also answer.

Yoo should first disclose whether there were any conversations related to the handball stadium issue during or before/after his police investigation, and whether he was asked or advised by the police to hold a press conference or request public authority.

He must also explain why he presented a planned expenditure, for which the execution deadline has not yet passed, as if it were actual damages incurred.

Did the police intend to act upon Yoo's request? Or did the police pressure the investigated Yoo to make such a request to create a justification for their actions?

With the substance of the "6 billion won in damages" shaken, what needs to be revealed now is who created that number and who needed it.