'Defendant Lee Jaemyung Became Presiding Judge' Justice Minister Supports Prosecutor General's Remarks

Minister of Justice Park Seong-jae States in Government Questioning, "Personally Agree with Prosecutor General Lee's Remarks"
Assemblyman Park Beom-gye Advises, "Restore Fairness"

On the 2nd, Minister of Justice Park Seong-jae came to the defense of Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok, who opposed the impeachment of prosecutors. Minister Park criticized the impeachment led by the Democratic Party of Korea, saying it "shakes the political neutrality of investigative agencies and the foundation of the criminal justice system."

Minister Park made these remarks during a government questioning session at the National Assembly, responding to a question from Democratic Party lawmaker Park Beom-gye, a former Minister of Justice. Lawmaker Park criticized Prosecutor General Lee's remarks referring to Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung as the 'judge' and demanded Minister Park's position on the matter. In response, Minister Park said, "May I say a word? Personally, I agree with (Prosecutor General Lee's remarks)."

Minister Park criticized, "Impeaching someone retaliatorily just because they investigated a specific politician is not in line with the purpose of the impeachment system." He added, "If guilt or innocence is revealed in court, then one should take responsibility for the outcome accordingly. But impeaching a prosecutor and summoning them as a subject of investigation by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee is not appropriate, in my opinion."

Earlier, the Democratic Party, after a plenary session vote, referred impeachment proposals against four prosecutors to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee: Prosecutor Park Sang-yong, who handled the investigation into former leader Lee's alleged North Korea remittance; Prosecutors Eom Hee-jun and Kang Baek-shin, who were in charge of the Daejang-dong and Baekhyeon-dong investigations; and Prosecutor Kim Young-cheol, who faced allegations of backdoor dealings involving Jang Si-ho, the niece of Choi Seo-won, during the investigation and trial of the state manipulation scandal.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In response, Prosecutor General Lee said at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office press room, "To put the Democratic Party's impeachment of prosecutors in one sentence, it is an attempt to impeach prosecutors who investigated the powerful figure, Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, to prevent the investigation and evade criminal punishment. It is as if the defendant, Lee, is acting as the judge, and the Democratic Party is taking away the judiciary's role to directly retry the case," he criticized.

Regarding Prosecutor General Lee's reference to Lee Jae-myung as the 'judge,' Minister Park said, "He spoke with the situation that would occur when the case is referred to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee in mind."

Regarding former Minister Park's response, Lawmaker Park said, "As a former Minister of Justice, I advise you not to live like that and to restore fairness." Minister Park replied, "I will gratefully accept your advice."