[Legal Interview] Lee Wankyu, Head of the Legislation Office: "The Complete Prosecution Reform Act Violates the Prohibition on Broad Delegation... Will Be Ruled Unconstitutional"

Adjustment of Police and Prosecutor Investigation Rights Hinders Substantive Truth Verification
Revision of 32 Presidential Decrees Including the Enforcement Decree of the Man-Ai Unification and Early Childhood Education Act
Supporting Small Business Owners Is a National Duty... Will Eliminate Regulatory Burdens on Management
President Yoon and University and Training Institute Classmates... Emphasize the Importance of Principles

Lee Wankyu, the head of the Ministry of Government Legislation, is answering questions from reporters about current issues including the "complete revision of the prosecution reform law" at the Government Seoul Office Building on the 7th. Photo by Heo Younghan younghan@

Lee Wan-gyu, who has been serving as the Commissioner of the Ministry of Government Legislation for 10 months, is under intense scrutiny from opposition parties because he is a classmate of President Yoon Suk-yeol from Seoul National University Law School (class of ’79) and the 23rd Judicial Research and Training Institute. Even when he expressed no issues with the enforcement decree on the restoration of prosecutorial investigative authority (‘Geomsuwonbok’) and the establishment of the Police Bureau under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety early in his term, he faced fierce criticism from the opposition, who claimed these opinions were those of the president’s close aides.

The so-called ‘Geomsuwanbak’ law (complete removal of prosecutorial investigative authority), passed last year under the leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea, is currently under constitutional review by the Constitutional Court, with a conclusion expected soon. Regarding this, Commissioner Lee confidently told Asia Economy in an interview, “There is a high probability of an unconstitutional ruling.” He believes that the amended Prosecutors’ Office Act by the Democratic Party violates the constitutional principle of ‘prohibition of broad delegation.’

Commissioner Lee is also accelerating the revision of laws selected as national tasks under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Government Legislation. Since June this year, the Ministry has unified the age standard to ‘full age’ and conducted a comprehensive revision of 32 presidential decrees, including the ‘Enforcement Decree of the Early Childhood Education Act,’ which recognizes pre-qualification work experience as practical experience to support youth job-seeking activities, as well as 28 prime ministerial and ministerial decrees. Commissioner Lee stated, “We identified law revision tasks directly related to the lives of the people and promptly pushed for comprehensive revisions.”

The following is a Q&A from the interview with Commissioner Lee at the Government Complex Seoul on the 7th.

-The pace of law revision selected as a national task is quite fast. Is there a reason for the early implementation from the first year of the government?

▲We swiftly promoted measures so that citizens, including youth and small business owners struggling with COVID-19 and economic recession, can quickly feel the effects of policies such as promoting youth economic activities, easing management burdens on small business owners, and strengthening local autonomy. At the end of last year, we revised 45 items, including expanding the scope of mitigation for sanctions on violations by small business owners without intentional or gross negligence. We also discovered and revised 16 laws that delegate matters and scope to ordinances but restrict them in subordinate laws, laying the foundation for expanding local autonomy.

Lee Wankyu, Chief of the Legislation Office, is answering questions from reporters about current issues including the "Complete Review of Prosecution Reform Act" at the Government Seoul Office Building on the 7th. Photo by Huh Younghan younghan@

-The reaction to unifying the standard to ‘full age’ is positive. Are there public campaigns and measures to address potential disadvantages to citizens due to this change?

▲The Administrative Basic Act and Civil Code, which legally stipulate the unification of ‘full age,’ will take effect from June 28. To root the culture of using full age in our daily lives, we plan to conduct various nationwide campaigns intensively in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Justice, and others. We aim to promote tailored education and publicity on the use of full age for students, local residents, and public officials through inter-ministerial cooperation. We are also preparing supplementary measures to address issues arising from the revision of ‘year age.’

-The public’s greatest concern is ‘economic recovery.’ What laws or systems require regulatory improvements that can practically help citizens’ lives?

▲Small business owners are a crucial pillar supporting the foundation of our economy but are vulnerable to difficult economic conditions. It is the state’s fundamental duty to consider and support small business owners. The Ministry of Government Legislation intends to revise laws to remove unnecessary regulatory burdens on small business owners at every stage from startup to closure, lowering barriers to entrepreneurship and significantly reducing operational burdens. While the Ministry cannot provide funds or tax reductions, we will continue to seek ways to assist in small but meaningful ways.

-What is your opinion on the so-called ‘Geomsuwanbak law’ currently under review by the Constitutional Court?

▲The current Prosecutors’ Office Act restricts prosecutors’ investigative authority. My personal prediction is that it will be ruled unconstitutional. Although the Ministry of Justice has raised several points as grounds for unconstitutionality, there is no opposition to the fact that it violates the ‘prohibition of broad delegation.’ Which institution holds investigative authority and the scope of that authority are fundamental pillars of criminal procedure. However, the current Prosecutors’ Office Act, after the 2020 adjustment of investigative authority between prosecutors and police, grouped prosecutorial investigative authority under broad categories such as economic crimes and delegated detailed matters to presidential decrees. Without specific criteria, it broadly delegated authority under the concept of ‘important crimes.’ Since ‘important crimes’ lack concrete standards, the president can arbitrarily define them by decree. Such broad delegation is an abandonment of legislative power by the National Assembly and is clearly unconstitutional, so an unconstitutional ruling is expected.

-You opposed the adjustment of investigative authority between prosecutors and police during the Moon Jae-in administration. What did you see as problematic, and do you think it needs to be revised again?

▲After the adjustment of investigative authority, lawyers have said that the criminal justice system has deteriorated significantly. A structure that enables diligent work should be created, but the 2020 adjustment made it difficult to uncover substantive truth. With the abolition of prosecutorial supervision over police investigations, prosecutors cannot directly supervise police investigations and are limited to requesting supplementary investigations, making it harder to discover the substantive truth of cases. I believe it is necessary to reconsider whether abolishing prosecutorial investigative supervision and granting police primary authority to conclude investigations is appropriate from the perspective of the state’s constitutional duty to protect human rights through controlling investigative abuse and the demand for discovering substantive truth and punishing criminals.

-You are classmates with President Yoon from Seoul National University Law School and the Judicial Research and Training Institute. Yet, you opposed his appointment as head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office. What was the reason?

▲In a country with a prosecutorial system, fairness is what is demanded of prosecutors. Prosecutors must judge with political neutrality during investigations, and the only way for prosecutors to stand properly is through personnel authority. When the Moon Jae-in administration took office, people who had fought for democracy regained power, so there was an expectation that prosecutorial personnel would be properly established. However, the first personnel appointment of the previous administration was the promotion of Yoon Suk-yeol as head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, while the then head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, Lee Young-ryeol, and the head of the Ministry of Justice’s Prosecutors’ Bureau, Ahn Tae-geun, were demoted. Even though it was a Blue House appointment, the procedures stipulated in the Prosecutors’ Office Act, including consultation with the Prosecutor General and recommendation by the Minister of Justice, were not properly followed. At least the minimum procedures should be observed, and removing such procedures would darken the future of the prosecution. (Commissioner Lee left the prosecution in protest against the Blue House’s unilateral personnel decisions at the time.) Some media reported that he opposed Yoon’s promotion, but it was not that; it was to emphasize the importance of procedural compliance to ensure fairness in prosecutorial personnel. After Yoon was promoted to chief prosecutor, I even congratulated him.

-How close were you to President Yoon? Do you share similar values?

▲We were in the same class at university, but I enlisted in the military during my studies, so we did not spend much time together during school days. Later, we both attended the Judicial Research and Training Institute, where there were only three classmates including President Yoon. We were commissioned as prosecutors together and worked together in the presidential election fund investigation team when I was a senior researcher at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office. After that, President Yoon went to the investigation team, and I went to the planning team, so we got to know each other’s work well and became close. President Yoon fundamentally values principles, emphasizing democracy and the rule of law. I prioritize constitutional values, so in that respect, we seem to share similar views.

[Interview by Jo Young-joo, Political and Social Managing Editor; compiled by Heo Kyung-jun]