'Suwon District Prosecutors' Office 2nd Chief Leading Lee Jae-myung Investigation Likely to Maintain Acting System Until January Next Year'

Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee Jeong-seop (Judicial Research and Training Institute class 32) was reassigned due to allegations of misconduct just two months after his appointment, leaving the position of Deputy Chief Prosecutor of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office vacant and expected to be operated under an acting system until January next year. Consequently, some disruptions to the investigation related to Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, appear inevitable.

According to a comprehensive report by Asia Economy on the 23rd, the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office currently have no plans to appoint a successor to the Deputy Chief Prosecutor of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office. Unless there are special variables, the position is expected to be filled during the regular prosecution personnel reshuffle scheduled for January next year. The Deputy Chief Prosecutor of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office holds a crucial role in leading investigations into various allegations involving Lee Jae-myung, and it is anticipated that the Ministry of Justice and the prosecution will take their time to find a suitable candidate.

Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee Jeong-seop.

Before Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee was reassigned, the investigative teams under the Deputy Chief Prosecutor of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office had been dividing and handling cases related to Lee Jae-myung. The Criminal Division 6 is investigating allegations related to former Gyeonggi Province Peace Deputy Governor Lee Hwa-young, the Public Investigation Division is looking into allegations of misuse of corporate credit cards by Lee’s spouse during his tenure as Governor of Gyeonggi Province, and the Defense Industry and Industrial Technology Crime Investigation Division is examining various corruption allegations involving the Ssangbangwool Group.

For the time being, Suwon District Prosecutors' Office has decided internally that Kang Seong-yong, First Deputy Chief Prosecutor of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office (Judicial Research and Training Institute class 31), will act as the Deputy Chief Prosecutor and take on those duties as well. Shin Bong-soo, Chief Prosecutor of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, who oversaw major cases under investigation at Suwon while serving as head of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Anti-Corruption and Serious Crimes Division (June 2022?September 2023), is also frequently monitoring the investigative teams under the Deputy Chief Prosecutor. While there is some hopeful expectation within the legal community that the investigation will not face major difficulties, concerns remain that the absence of a control tower to lead the investigation could significantly impact the process. It is considered burdensome for Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kang to oversee the investigative teams under the Deputy Chief Prosecutor as well, and the internal atmosphere at Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, unsettled by the sudden reassignment of Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee on the 20th, may also be a variable.

There are also predictions that finding a successor for the Deputy Chief Prosecutor position will be difficult. According to sources inside and outside the prosecution, the Deputy Chief Prosecutor position at Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, once regarded as a stepping stone for promotion due to the opportunity to lead many important cases, has become a position that prosecutors avoid following the personnel incident involving Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee. Within the prosecution, there is a strong perception that Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee became a target of intense attacks from opposition parties due to his involvement in investigations related to Lee Jae-myung, which led to allegations of misconduct, raising concerns that the next successor will also become a target of opposition party attacks.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party of Korea remains firm in its intention to file impeachment motions against four current prosecutors, including Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee, at the next plenary session of the National Assembly. The Democratic Party filed impeachment motions against Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee and Daegu High Prosecutors' Office Deputy Chief Prosecutor Son Jun-sung on the 9th, but the motions were discarded after the People Power Party canceled the scheduled filibuster (unlimited debate), preventing a vote within the required 72 hours. The Democratic Party intended to refile impeachment motions against a total of four prosecutors, including Changwon District Prosecutors' Office Prosecutor Eom Hong-seok and Supreme Prosecutors' Office Public Investigation Planning Officer Lee Hee-dong, but the plenary session was canceled after negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties and rescheduled for the 30th and the 1st of next month, delaying the filing.

Earlier, on the 20th, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office reassigned Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee, who had been reported for various allegations of misconduct, as acting prosecutor at Daejeon High Prosecutors' Office. On the same day, the Criminal Division 1 of Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Seung-ho) began a forced investigation into the allegations against Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee by conducting raids on Yongin CC Golf Course and the Elysian Gangchon Resort in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province. The allegations against Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee first surfaced last month during the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee’s audit. Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Ui-gyeom raised suspicions based on reports from Lee’s brother-in-law’s wife, Kang Mi-jung, including 'criminal record checks on golf course employees,' 'preferential treatment of golf course use by senior and junior prosecutors,' and 'resort hospitality.'