Democratic Party, Representative Lee Jae-myung Files Complaint Against Yucheol Hwan, Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Over 'Helicopter Transfer Controversy'

Democratic Party Files Complaint Against Anti-Corruption Commission Chair
Anti-Corruption Commission Rules Medical Staff Violated Code of Conduct
"Commission's Decision Is an Illegal Resolution"

The Democratic Party of Korea announced on the 11th that it has filed a complaint with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) against Chairman Yu Cheol-hwan of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) regarding the incident in which Representative Lee Jae-myung was airlifted to Seoul by helicopter after being attacked, and the ACRC's judgment that the medical staff violated the code of conduct.

The 2024 Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission National Council, organized by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, was held on the 21st at the Seoul Banking Hall. Yu Cheol-hwan, Chairman of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, is delivering a greeting. Photo by Heo Young-han younghan@

In a press release on the same day, the Democratic Party stated, "Regarding the incident last January when Representative Lee was transferred by fire department helicopter from Busan National University Hospital to Seoul National University Hospital, the ACRC judged that the medical staff of the two hospitals violated the public officials' code of conduct and requested disciplinary action," adding, "This is a clear abuse of authority."

The Democratic Party pointed out that the ACRC applied the basic guidelines for operating the 'Doctor Helicopter' during the disciplinary request process, but the helicopter that transferred Representative Lee was a general emergency medical helicopter. They emphasized, "Applying regulations related to emergency medical-only helicopters is inappropriate, and the ACRC's judgment that the request for the 'Doctor Helicopter' was made by an unauthorized person is nothing more than an illegal resolution."

The Democratic Party said, "Chairman Yu applied regulations that cannot be applied to the facts and demanded disciplinary action," adding, "This is an act that exceeds the legitimate authority of the ACRC and is a clear abuse of power." They also stated, "The ACRC, which should lead in protecting the people's rights and realizing a clean society, abused its authority by defining the lawful transfer of the victim as an illegal special favor," and requested a prompt and thorough investigation by the CIO.

In response, the ACRC explained, "At the plenary committee meeting on July 22, it was judged that since a fire department helicopter was dispatched in the incident, the related public officials violated the Fire Department guidelines," and added, "We did not judge that the Ministry of Health and Welfare's 'Doctor Helicopter' related guidelines were violated." The ACRC further noted that the resolution only mentioned the Ministry of Health and Welfare's 'Basic Guidelines for Operating Emergency Medical-only Helicopters' as a reference.

Additionally, the ACRC explained, "Regarding the guideline violations by the public officials, we judged them as violations of the public officials' code of conduct concerning the exclusion of special favors, and notified the supervisory and affiliated institutions to request necessary measures such as disciplinary action."