[2023 National Audit] Ruling Party "Must Reveal Full Extent of Fake News" vs Opposition "Is the Prosecution Lee Jae-myung's Special Investigation Team?"

The Democratic Party calls for strong investigation into 'fake news'... "An issue that could change election results"
Rep. Kim Eui-gyeom: "Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee Jeong-seop dined with a conglomerate vice chairman at a luxury resort"
Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok: "The deputy chief prosecutor's involvement unconfirmed... statement from a private dispute"

During the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, both ruling and opposition parties focused their questions on the investigation of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea.

Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok is taking the witness oath at the National Assembly's inspection of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office held on the 23rd at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers Group

At the audit held at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on the 23rd, the opposition criticized the prosecution for failing to produce significant results despite forming a large-scale investigation team for Lee.

Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Young-bae stated, "It has been reported in the media that 50 prosecutors from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and Suwon District Prosecutors' Office have been involved in the investigation of Lee, but there are criticisms that the prosecution is acting like Lee Jae-myung's special investigation team," adding, "Arrest warrants for Lee have been sent to the National Assembly twice; the second was approved and sent to the court but was dismissed. This has caused significant public controversy and criticism."

In response, Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok said, "No prosecutor is assigned to only one case; a single prosecutor handles dozens, sometimes hundreds of cases," and added, "It is not true that 50 prosecutors were continuously working on this case; I believe the scale was not that large."

On the other hand, the ruling party argued that a strong investigation is necessary regarding fake news allegations, including the ongoing 'Newstapa false interview' case being handled by the prosecution.

Newstapa reported an interview before last year's presidential election involving Shin Hak-rim, former chairman of the Korean Federation of Journalists' Unions and then-special advisor to Newstapa, and Kim Man-bae, a private developer of Daejang-dong. The interview claimed that "President Yoon Seok-yeol, while at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Central Investigation Department, covered up the case of Jo Woo-hyung, a Daejang-dong developer involved in the Busan Savings Bank scandal, through former special prosecutor Park Young-soo."

People Power Party lawmaker Jeon Ju-hye said, "Fake news related to then-presidential candidate Yoon Seok-yeol must be thoroughly investigated," adding, "This is a serious issue that could distort public opinion and even change election results due to election manipulation. Despite the fake news being reported, the Moon Jae-in administration's prosecution neither restrained nor commented on it. Candidate Lee Jae-myung sent this information via text message to 4.75 million people the day before the election. The full truth must be revealed."

Additionally, the opposition raised concerns about allegations of misconduct by Lee Jeong-seop, deputy chief prosecutor of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office. The Democratic Party claims that Lee is involved in ▲ false address registration ▲ unauthorized background checks on acquaintances ▲ introducing lawyers to his in-laws ▲ and tax delinquency suspicions.

Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Eui-gyeom raised suspicions that on December 24, 2020, Deputy Chief Lee visited a luxury resort in Gangwon Province at the invitation of the vice chairman of a company ranked within the top 10 in the business world. Kim claimed that Lee had been investigating this company annually since 2015.

Kim also alleged that when Deputy Chief Lee was invited to the resort, the ski resort was closed due to a COVID-19 gathering ban order, but only Lee's family was allowed to use the ski facilities.

Prosecutor General Lee responded, "Prosecutors are human, and the prosecution is a place where people live, so mistakes and problems can occur," adding, "I don't think the audit session is the place to conduct a confirmation hearing for someone who was a chief prosecutor until recently, like Deputy Chief Lee."

He continued, "It seems the materials came from a lawsuit dispute involving relatives of Deputy Chief Lee. If they provide them to us, we will review them," but also stated, "Since the person cannot defend themselves, publicly disclosing such information without verification, which comes from a private dispute, is one-sided. We will conduct the investigation with objectivity and fairness."