Candidates for 'Late Sergeant Lee Yeram Special Investigation' Include Lawyers An Miyoung and Lee Inram (Comprehensive)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Lawyers In-ram Lee and Mi-young Ahn have been finally recommended as special prosecutors for the investigation into the death of Air Force Sergeant (late) Ye-ram Lee, a victim of sexual violence.

According to the legal community on the 15th, the ruling and opposition negotiation groups decided on In-ram Lee, a lawyer at Changjo Law Firm and former chairman of the Military Death Accident Investigation Commission (age 65, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 11), and Mi-young Ahn, a lawyer at Dongin Law Firm and former prosecutor (age 55, class 25), as the final candidates among the special prosecutor candidates recommended by the Court Administration Office and the Korean Bar Association, and recommended them to the President. Lawyer Lee completed the Judicial Research and Training Institute in 1981 (class 11) and served as a military judge at the Army High Military Court, a military judge at the Ministry of National Defense High Military Court, and legal staff at the 2nd Army Corps. After opening his law practice, he served as a civilian member of the Ministry of National Defense Past Truth Commission, a non-standing member of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and until April last year, he served as the chairman of the Presidential Military Death Accident Investigation Commission. Lawyer Ahn completed the Judicial Research and Training Institute in 1996 (class 25) and was commissioned as a prosecutor at the Uijeongbu branch of the Seoul District Prosecutors' Office. She served as head of the Women's Policy Division at the Ministry of Justice, head of the Women and Child Crime Investigation Division at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, and head of the Human Rights Policy Division at the Ministry of Justice. After leaving public office in 2019 and becoming a lawyer, she has mainly handled cases involving female crimes.

The National Assembly unanimously passed the special prosecutor law for the investigation of Sergeant Lee's case at the plenary session on the 15th of last month. The ruling and opposition judiciary committee members agreed on a plan where the Court Administration Office and the Korean Bar Association each recommend two candidates, the negotiation groups recommend two candidates among them, and the President appoints them, and passed the special prosecutor law. The Court Administration Office recommended Lawyer Ahn and Lawyer Young-bin Kwon, a former standing member of the Sewol Ferry Hull Investigation Committee, while the Korean Bar Association reportedly recommended Lawyer Lee as a single candidate. The negotiation groups decided on Lawyers Lee and Ahn as the final candidates and recommended them to the President. President Yoon Suk-yeol will select one of them as the final special prosecutor.

Sergeant Lee, who belonged to the Air Force 20th Wing, was sexually harassed by a senior non-commissioned officer on March 2 last year and immediately reported it. However, while the military prosecution investigation was ongoing, she took her own life on May 21 of the same year. It was the day she registered her marriage with her boyfriend and only three days after she was transferred to another unit at her own request. The bereaved family claimed that the deceased suffered secondary damage such as persuasion and pressure from colleagues and seniors. The Ministry of National Defense, which investigated the case, criminally charged a total of 25 people and prosecuted 15, but no one from the initial investigation officers and command who were heavily criticized for their responsibility was prosecuted, drawing criticism.

The special prosecutor plans to investigate sexual violence and secondary harm within the Air Force related to Sergeant Lee's death, as well as allegations of concealment, cover-up, and persuasion by the Ministry of National Defense and Air Force Headquarters. In principle, soldiers and military personnel are tried in military courts, but suspects indicted through this special prosecutor investigation can be tried in civilian courts. Cases already indicted before the special prosecutor investigation are excluded from the investigation.