Lee Seong-yoon, a research fellow at the Judicial Research and Training Institute who attended an event hosted by former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk and is now under investigation by the Ministry of Justice's inspection office, protested, saying, "Does covering my mouth hide the shame?"
Research Fellow Seong-yoon Lee, Judicial Research and Training Institute / Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@
On the 4th, Lee announced on his social media account that he had submitted a written response to the Ministry of Justice's inspection office and made this claim.
Lee expressed, "Now, I am no longer a minister or a professor, but a natural person. Offering kind words at a book concert of my former boss has been labeled as associating with someone whose fairness is in question and violating the Prosecutor's Ethics Code, which is simply absurd."
He then referred to past media reports that President Yoon Seok-yeol met with Bang Sang-hoon, president of Chosun Ilbo, during his tenure as Prosecutor General, arguing, "This is a typical violation of the Prosecutor's Ethics Code."
He criticized, "When Yoon was disciplined, his meeting with a media owner involved in the case was left unexamined and not even recognized as grounds for discipline. Why is it acceptable for Yoon Seok-yeol but not for Lee Seong-yoon? Treating essentially the same thing differently at one's discretion is Yoon Seok-yeol-style fairness and double standards."
Lee also claimed regarding his remarks at the book concert, where he referred to the "immoral prosecution regime" and the "immoral investigation methods of the Yoon Seok-yeol faction, comparable to Chun Doo-hwan's Hanahoe," that "If even this level of opinion expression is restricted, the constitution guaranteeing freedom of expression and the foundation of democracy will be shaken."
Earlier, Lee attended the book launch event for former Minister Cho's book, Tears of Dike, held at the Roh Moo-hyun Citizen Center in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 6th of last month. The Ministry of Justice decided to initiate an inspection, citing the possibility that Lee, while serving as the head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and responsible for prosecution, contacted a suspect, potentially violating the State Public Officials Act and the Prosecutor's Ethics Code.
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