[2023 National Audit] Ruling Party "Must Reveal Full Truth of Fake News" vs Opposition "Is Prosecution Lee Jae-myung Special Investigation Team?" (Comprehensive)

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: "Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee's statements unverified... from a private dispute"

During the National Assembly 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, and allegations of misconduct involving Lee Jeong-seop, the second deputy prosecutor of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office.

Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok is responding to questions from lawmakers at the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee's inspection of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office held on the 23rd 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 investigation team for the probe into Lee Jae-myung.

Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Young-bae said, "It has been reported in the media that 50 prosecutors from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and Suwon District Prosecutors' Office have been assigned to Lee Jae-myung's case, but there are criticisms that the prosecution is acting like a special investigation team for Lee." He added, "Arrest warrants for Lee were 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."

Kim Seong-won, also from the same party, said, "The investigation into Lee has been prolonged and involved a large number of personnel. I ask the Prosecutor General to clarify whether there have been actions such as dusting off minor details, tightening pressure around him, or manipulating public opinion with alleged facts."

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. In reality, it was not the case that 50 people were continuously working, and I believe the scale was not that large."

He also stated, "There were claims that the prosecution was not properly investigating the Ssangbangwool Group and former Chairman Kim Seong-tae, including Lee Jae-myung. Therefore, the investigation into corporate corruption of the Ssangbangwool Group was separated, and no additional personnel were assigned. I only urged a thorough investigation into corporate corruption because the Ssangbangwool Group investigation was considered weak."

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 last year before the presidential election, in which Shin Hak-rim, former chairman of the Korean Federation of Journalists' Unions and then-specialist at Newstapa, and Kim Man-bae, a private developer involved in the Daejang-dong development, 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 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 to 4.75 million people the day before the election. The full truth must be revealed."

Yoo Sang-bum, also from the same party, pointed out, "The manipulation of false interview content occurred intensively from February 21 to March 7 last year, a period when candidate Lee's approval ratings were overtaken, and the competition was fierce. The prosecution needs to thoroughly investigate who was behind this."

Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Ui-gyeom is requesting the submission of materials during the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office held on the 23rd at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by the National Assembly Press Corps

During the audit, Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Ui-gyeom raised allegations that Lee Jeong-seop, the second deputy prosecutor of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office investigating Lee Jae-myung's alleged illegal remittance to North Korea, was entertained by a high-ranking corporate executive.

Kim revealed photos at the audit showing Lee Jeong-seop dining with his family at a luxury resort in Gangwon Province on December 24, 2020, invited by the vice chairman of a major domestic conglomerate ranked comfortably within the top 10 in South Korea's business hierarchy.

Kim said, "The host is the vice chairman of a leading domestic conglomerate, easily ranked within the top 10 in the country's business world. He can be called a kind of conglomerate troubleshooter, and this deputy prosecutor has been investigating this group for a very long time." He added, "Since 2015, investigations have been conducted almost every year, including a 3 trillion won LNG cartel construction company case, assault incidents within the group, industrial cartel investigations, and investigations into preferential treatment of orders. Is it appropriate for him to be entertained by a key figure of the group he has been investigating? This raises doubts." He then insisted that the deputy prosecutor should be excluded from the investigation into Lee Jae-myung.

Earlier, at the National Assembly audit held on the 17th of this month for the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, Kim had alleged that the deputy prosecutor engaged in false address registration to send his daughter to a prestigious school and, at the request of his brother-in-law who runs a golf course, accessed criminal records of golf course employees on his behalf.

In response, Prosecutor General Lee said, "Prosecutors are human, and the prosecution is a place where people live, so mistakes and problems can occur. However, the audit is not a venue for a confirmation hearing on a deputy prosecutor who was recently a chief prosecutor. I cannot make an immediate decision to exclude him from duties based on information I am seeing for the first time."

He continued, "It seems the materials came from a lawsuit dispute involving the deputy prosecutor's relatives. If they provide them to us, we will review them," but added, "If such information is disclosed publicly, the person cannot defend themselves as the facts have not been verified. This is a party's position arising from a private dispute. We will conduct the investigation with objectivity and fairness."