Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok (27th Judicial Research and Training Institute) marked his first anniversary in office on the 16th.
When he took office as the 45th Prosecutor General on September 16 last year, he stated, "Protecting the fundamental rights of the people, such as life, body, safety, and property, and thereby maintaining and developing our community is precisely the reason for the existence of the prosecution and the essence of the prosecution's work." He also declared, "I will exercise the prosecutorial authority entrusted by the people for the people and in the right way."
New Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok is delivering his inaugural speech at the inauguration ceremony held at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on September 16 last year. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@
At the same time, Prosecutor General Lee urged members to focus the prosecution's investigative capabilities on crimes that infringe on people's livelihoods such as voice phishing, jeonse fraud, and fund fraud; violent crimes targeting socially vulnerable groups such as children, the disabled, and women, including digital sex crimes, sexual violence, stalking, and domestic violence; financial and securities crimes that disrupt a fair market economy order; and structural corruption that undermines national finances and wastes budgets.
Prosecutor General Lee stated, "Over the past year, we have reorganized laws and systems to minimize the side effects of laws enacted without considering the reality of criminal justice procedures and the role of the prosecution. We have also strived to revive and instill honor and pride in members who had been shrinking and hesitating for many years, aiming to make the prosecution a 'working prosecution' for the people."
He added, "I visited 25 prosecution offices nationwide, communicated openly with frontline members daily through various means such as messenger, phone, and email, and listened to diverse opinions in society by directly visiting and interacting with academia, the legal community, and related organizations."
The achievements of the past year under his strong leadership of the prosecution are confirmed by performance and statistics.
The Supreme Prosecutors' Office summarized the past year in a press release distributed the day before, stating, "The realistic problems that the public wants the prosecution to solve are crimes affecting people's livelihoods, such as concerns about children being exposed to drugs, whether a recent remittance was voice phishing, whether jeonse deposits can be returned on time, exposure to digital sex crimes, drunk driving accidents, or issues with invested stocks or virtual assets. We have responded with full force to livelihood crimes such as drugs, voice phishing, jeonse fraud, stalking; violent crimes targeting socially vulnerable groups such as children, the disabled, and women; financial crimes; and fiscal crimes."
It continued, "As a result, compared to the first half of last year, the proportion of cases directly investigated by the prosecution increased by 90%, the proportion of direct arrests for serious offenses increased by 84%, and the proportion of cases filed for perjury and false accusation increased by 49% and 167%, respectively. Meanwhile, the acquittal rate in the first trial decreased from 0.91% to 0.84%, and the acquittal rate in the second trial decreased from 1.47% to 1.35%, showing clear improvement in key indicators."
Strict Response to Livelihood Crimes such as Drugs, Voice Phishing, Stalking, Jeonse Fraud, and Drunk Driving... "Protecting the People's Life, Safety, and Property is the Prosecution's Primary Duty"
First, the prosecution made an all-out effort to combat drug crimes over the past year, as drug crimes reached a critical point with a surge in juvenile drug offenders, increased drug smuggling, and the spread of misuse of medical narcotics.
In February this year, special investigation teams for drug crimes were formed in four major regions nationwide in cooperation with the Korea Customs Service, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and local governments. In April, a special investigation headquarters for drug crimes was launched with the National Police Agency, Korea Customs Service, Ministry of National Defense, Coast Guard, and National Intelligence Service, pooling government-wide capabilities against drug crimes.
In particular, the investigation gap for drug crimes, which had deepened due to the implementation of the so-called "Complete Removal of Prosecutorial Investigation Rights" (Geomsu Wanbak) laws such as the amended Prosecutors' Office Act and Criminal Procedure Act pushed by the Democratic Party just before the regime change, began to show visible results as direct prosecution investigations into "drug distribution-related crimes" became possible through the revision of the "Regulations on the Scope of Crimes for Prosecutors' Investigation Initiation." From September 2022 to June this year, the prosecution detected 925 drug offenders, a 60% increase compared to the same period the previous year.
Response to voice phishing crimes, which have become increasingly sophisticated and caused damage amounting to 774.4 billion KRW in 2021 alone, was also remarkable.
In July last year, a government joint investigation team for voice phishing crimes, mobilizing government capabilities including the prosecution, police, National Tax Service, Korea Customs Service, Financial Supervisory Service, and Korea Communications Commission, was established at the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office. Since the launch of the joint investigation team, the damage amount from voice phishing decreased by 30% to 543.8 billion KRW in 2022 compared to the previous year (2021), and the damage amount in the first half of this year (205 billion KRW) also decreased by 33% compared to the first half of last year (306.8 billion KRW).
In the ongoing situation of violent crimes against women, such as the sexual violence case at a university in Incheon, the second "Nth Room" case, and the Sindang Station murder case, the prosecution established a "zero-tolerance principle" for sexual violence, digital sex crimes, and stalking crimes and has been strictly responding through dedicated departments.
The largest prosecution office in the country, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, established the Women's and Children's Crime Investigation Division 2, and dedicated prosecutors for digital sex crimes were appointed in each prosecution office. The standards for handling dating violence were strengthened, and support for blocking and deleting illegal videos to protect victims and a rapid provisional measure system for stalking offenders were also established.
Additionally, investigations into long-unsolved sexual violence crimes were strengthened based on DNA analysis, and prompt responses to stalking crimes were enabled through the "Prosecution-Police Consultative Body." Prosecutor General Lee personally visited the Digital Sex Crime Victim Support Center and the Seoul Eastern Sunflower Center in September last year and the Seoul Eastern Sunflower Center again in April this year to emphasize inter-agency cooperation.
Regarding jeonse fraud crimes that have caused distress to many ordinary citizens, the prosecution took swift and strict action through close cooperation with related agencies.
Following the investigation of the "Three Mothers Jeonse Fraud" case, large-scale and organized jeonse fraud crimes were identified, and a rapid cooperation system with related agencies was established for strict response.
Earlier this year, the prosecution, police, and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport held a "Jeonse Fraud Response Council," establishing a close investigative cooperation system throughout the entire criminal procedure, including investigation, prosecution, and trial, and continued government-wide special crackdowns.
Seventy-one dedicated prosecutors were appointed nationwide to conduct "responsible investigations" handling prosecution and trials, and the investigation period for jeonse fraud was significantly shortened through the "Prosecution-Police Regional Hotline" in seven major regions to improve investigative efficiency.
The prosecution also considered victim compensation as the top priority in sentencing and sought the maximum penalty in court, applying the "criminal organization formation" charge for large-scale and organized jeonse fraud crimes.
In the context of a steady increase in detected drunk driving cases and serious drunk driving crimes such as fatal accidents in school zones, efforts were made to find practical solutions.
As a result, in June, a "Joint Prosecution-Police Drunk Driving Eradication Plan" was established, including measures such as confiscating vehicles used in serious drunk driving crimes like fatal accidents and habitual drunk driving and generally conducting investigations under detention.
Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok is delivering a greeting at the launch ceremony of the Joint Investigation Team for Virtual Asset Crimes held on July 26 at the Southern District Prosecutors' Office in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@
Establishing a Fair Market Economy Order and Upholding the Constitution... Strict Response to Stock and Coin Price Manipulation, Unfair Collusion, and Fiscal Crimes
Over the past year, the prosecution responded swiftly and efficiently in cooperation with related agencies to unfair capital market activities such as stock price manipulation, insider trading, and fraudulent transactions, as well as new crimes related to virtual assets such as price manipulation, illegal foreign exchange remittance, and multi-level marketing of coins.
To enhance crime response capabilities, the prosecution reorganized the existing joint investigation team into the "Financial and Securities Crime Joint Investigation Department" in May and launched the "Virtual Asset Crime Joint Investigation Team" at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office in July, together with the prosecution, Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Financial Supervisory Service, Korea Exchange, Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation, National Tax Service, and Korea Customs Service.
Centered on the "Financial and Securities Crime Joint Investigation Department," the prosecution indicted 373 offenders of unfair capital market transactions and arrested 48, recovering approximately 1.6387 trillion KRW in criminal proceeds over the past year, including uncovering the Edison EV stock manipulation group.
The prosecution also took strict action against collusion that causes economic burdens and pain to citizens and undermines the fair competition order, which is the foundation of the market economy, as well as fiscal crimes that erode the national budget and waste public funds.
From May last year to June this year, the prosecution closely cooperated with the Fair Trade Commission to focus on investigating various collusion acts by companies that disrupt living costs and market order, indicting 265 fair trade offenders and arresting three.
They achieved results in cracking down on the "price increase cartel" that illegally profited through collusion in school uniform bidding, ice cream and chicken price collusion, and apartment built-in furniture, fire insurance, and rebar bidding collusion, all related to citizens' basic needs of clothing, food, and shelter.
In September last year, the "National Fiscal Crime Joint Investigation Team," consisting of the prosecution, National Tax Service, Korea Customs Service, Financial Supervisory Service, and Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation, was launched to eradicate fiscal corruption ranging from tax and customs evasion and overseas asset concealment to subsidy and grant fraud.
Since the launch of the joint investigation team, a fast-track system for swift investigation and a one-stop system for recovering criminal proceeds have been established, indicting 45 offenders of national fiscal corruption, including cases of solar power financial support loan embezzlement and AI learning data construction project subsidy embezzlement. Among them, eight were prosecuted while in detention.
The prosecution also made special efforts to realize the legislative intent of the Serious Accident Punishment Act, which has been in effect since January last year.
After the first indictment under the Serious Accident Punishment Act for a case involving a group occupational disease caused by hazardous substances, the prosecution indicted company representatives in a case where three quarry workers died, indicting a total of 26 management officials (including 52 corporations) to date.
Notably, while it was previously difficult to hold prime contractors responsible for subcontractor worker deaths, after the enactment of the Serious Accident Punishment Act, the prosecution investigated and indicted CEOs of prime contractors as well.
The prosecution also thoroughly investigated the West Sea public official shooting incident and the forced repatriation of North Korean fishermen that occurred during the Moon Jae-in administration, confirming the truth and indicting those who attempted to cover up the incidents, reaffirming the inviolable rights inherent to all humans.
Meanwhile, the prosecution has been actively expanding the scope of ex officio retrial requests and continuously changing prosecutorial dispositions to restore the honor and rights of prisoners who suffered from illegal exercise of public authority in the past.
Besides prisoners tried in military courts related to the Jeju 4.3 Incident, the prosecution filed ex officio retrials for prisoners tried in ordinary courts to restore the honor of victims and their families. Since June last year, ex officio retrials were requested for a total of 991 military court prisoners, with 961 acquitted.
Since May last year, to restore the honor of those related to the May 18 Democratic Movement, the prosecution changed the disposition of 90 individuals who had been conditionally prosecuted by military prosecutors based on presumed guilt to "not guilty" by recognizing their justifiable acts.
Additionally, since May, ex officio retrials were requested for 78 fishermen who were abducted and returned after long-term illegal detention and who could not lead normal social lives after release. Retrials have commenced for 64, with 30 acquitted.
Strengthening Investigation and Trial Capabilities... Filling Some Investigation Gaps through Revision of Prosecutors' Investigation Initiation Regulations
Following the adjustment of investigative authority between the police and prosecution during the previous administration and the introduction of the Geomsu Wanbak law, the scope of crimes for which prosecutors can initiate direct investigations has been significantly reduced. The police, suddenly burdened with increased workload without adequate preparation, found it physically impossible to properly handle the flood of complaints and accusations.
As a result, the time required for criminal investigations has significantly increased compared to the past, creating a large gap in investigations of drug and organized crime. The resulting weakening of national crime response capabilities, procedural delays due to unnecessary case transfers between investigative agencies, and consequent human rights violations have ultimately harmed the public.
Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon addressed this by revising and implementing the "Regulations on the Scope of Crimes for Prosecutors' Investigation Initiation" under the amended Prosecutors' Office Act to fill these investigative gaps.
As a result, in the first half of this year, the number of suspects recognized by the prosecution increased by 90% to 4,242 compared to 2,226 in the same period last year, and the number of suspects directly arrested by the prosecution increased by 84% from 415 to 767.
The prosecution reduced requests for supplementary investigations to the police and increased direct investigations, raising the rate of final disposition for swift decisions. Compared to the first half of last year, the rate of supplementary investigation requests decreased by 1.7 percentage points, and the prosecution's final disposition rate increased by 1.6 percentage points.
The recognition rates of perjury and false accusation crimes, which undermine judicial order, increased by 49% and 167%, respectively, and the prosecution recovered criminal proceeds exceeding 473.7 billion KRW, more than five times that of the same period last year.
Investigations of Politically Sensitive Cases such as Lee Jae-myung, Newstapa, and Statistical Manipulation Draw Attention
In the personnel reshuffle on the 4th, all prosecutors general from the 27th Judicial Research and Training Institute, who are contemporaries of Prosecutor General Lee, were excluded from promotion to senior prosecutors general and were not appointed as district prosecutors general. This was analyzed as a personnel move supporting Prosecutor General Lee, who has one year left in his term.
Meanwhile, all senior staff assisting Prosecutor General Lee at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office were replaced. This appears to reflect a policy to revitalize the atmosphere by replacing the senior staff who were feeling fatigued while normalizing the abnormal prosecution and to continue the "working atmosphere."
At his inauguration ceremony a year ago, Prosecutor General Lee quoted a phrase from Han Feizi, "法不阿貴 繩不撓曲 (Law does not flatter the noble; the measuring line does not bend to the crooked)," emphasizing, "There can be no exceptions, benefits, or sanctuaries in law enforcement, and prosecutorial authority must be exercised solely based on evidence and legal principles."
Currently, he faces several politically sensitive cases, including the handling of the health condition of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who is on a hunger strike; the "election interference public opinion manipulation" case related to Newstapa's interview report with Kim Man-bae and Shin Hak-rim; and allegations of statistical manipulation by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and others during the previous government.
Marking his first anniversary in office, Prosecutor General Lee stated, "Based on justice and common sense that the people empathize with, I will fulfill the prosecution's mission as a criminal law enforcement agency by responding without sanctuary to corruption and economic crimes that undermine the foundation and values of the community according to law and principles."
Known for being diligent and meticulous in his work, sometimes excessively so, attention is focused on Prosecutor General Lee's actions in the coming year.
Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok is seen placing flowers at a memorial stone dedicated to prosecution officials who died in the line of duty, in the front yard of the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office in Dobong-gu, Seoul, after the inauguration ceremony of the Joint Investigation Unit for National Financial Crimes on September 30 last year. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@
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