Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok: "Special Prosecutor for North Korea Remittances Is a Judicial Obstruction Special Prosecutor"..."Abuse of Legislative Power"

"Suspect Investigates the Prosecution"
"Intimidation of the Prosecution, Pressure on the Judiciary"
"Undermining the Foundation of the Rule of Law"

Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok strongly condemned the Democratic Party of Korea's proposal of a special prosecutor law on the 3rd, four days before the first trial verdict of former Gyeonggi Province Deputy Governor Lee Hwa-young's illegal remittance to North Korea case, calling it a "special prosecutor investigation obstructing justice" and "intimidation of the prosecution and pressure on the judiciary."

On the same day, Lee met with reporters on his way home and expressed his stance on the Democratic Party's special prosecutor law proposal. The Democratic Party proposed the "Special Prosecutor Act for Truth-Finding Regarding the Prosecution's Coercion of False Testimony in the Kim Seong-tae North Korea Remittance Case."

Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok. Photo by Younghan Heo younghan@

Lee said, "Today, the Democratic Party proposed a special prosecutor law that allows a special prosecutor to investigate the prosecution regarding the illegal North Korea remittance case of Gyeonggi Province Deputy Governor Lee Hwa-young, just four days before the verdict election." He added, "Deputy Governor Lee Hwa-young is on trial for charges including receiving illegal bribes exceeding 250 million won, illegal political funds exceeding 330 million won, illegally remitting 80 million dollars, which is about 10 billion won, to North Korea, and instructing evidence destruction."

He continued, "The indictment was made 1 year and 8 months ago, and the trial has been ongoing for 1 year and 8 months. Three arrest warrants have been issued by the court, and the verdict is scheduled just four days from now." He added, "Towards the end of Deputy Governor Lee Hwa-young's trial, his lawyer even claimed that 'Lee Hwa-young's guilt strongly presumes the guilt of Representative Lee Jae-myung.'"

Lee said, "In this situation, the fact that the investigation target, Deputy Governor Lee Hwa-young, and the Democratic Party side proposed a special prosecutor law to investigate the prosecution shows the intention and purpose, which I believe the public can understand." He added, "The prosecution judges this special prosecutor investigation as intimidation of the prosecution and pressure on the judiciary, and therefore considers it a special prosecutor investigation obstructing justice."

Lee also expressed strong regret over the Democratic Party citing the suspicion of 'coercion to manipulate testimony during a drinking party inside the prosecution office,' raised by former Deputy Governor Lee, as grounds for introducing a special prosecutor.

He said, "The coercion of Deputy Governor Lee Hwa-young and the coercion by a former high-ranking lawyer, which the Democratic Party cites as reasons for the special prosecutor, have already been clearly disproven by objective evidence from the prosecution, and the Democratic Party has not presented any rebuttal since then." He added, "In a rule-of-law country, it is unimaginable that an investigation target would investigate the prosecution. I deeply regret that such a special prosecutor law, which undermines the rule of law and attacks and threatens the criminal justice system, has been proposed."

He continued, "The proposal of such a special prosecutor law is an abuse of legislative power and undermines the foundation of the rule of law." He urged, "I ask the ruling party to reconsider this special prosecutor law proposal and refrain from abusing legislative power."

Regarding some media reports stating that "additional testimony about Lee Hwa-young's drinking party has emerged," Lee said, "We have already clearly stated through detention center departure plans and logs that the coercion suspicion regarding Lee Hwa-young's drinking party is not true." He pointed out, "Deputy Governor Lee's claims about the drinking times differ between May, June, and July, and the locations vary between the prosecutor's office and in front of the prosecutor's office. Furthermore, he initially claimed to have drunk enough to have a flushed face but later said he did not drink because of the smell of alcohol."

He questioned, "Deputy Governor Lee Hwa-young is a politically influential senior who has served as a member of the National Assembly, deputy governor, and president of KINTEX. Which prosecutor would dare to coerce such a person? Would a prosecutor stake their life on Deputy Governor Lee?"

He added, "Regarding such one-sided false claims and acts obstructing justice to evade the judiciary, we will ensure that the substantial truth is clearly discovered through future investigations and trials."

When asked to give a message to the prosecutors working on the front lines, Lee urged them to walk the right path firmly and uprightly.

He said, "Prosecutors are people who do the right thing in the right way." He added, "Prosecutors on the front lines are facing many attacks related to obstruction of justice."

He continued, "On one side, they say there is prosecution dictatorship, and on the other, they say the prosecution has done nothing for two years. But I believe that is the destiny of the prosecution."

Finally, Lee said, "I earnestly ask the frontline prosecutors to work with the mindset of walking the right path uprightly, regardless of political factions, interests, status, or position, and I believe in them."