Internal Investigation Team Protests "Order to Release Yoon"
Meeting Held with Senior Officials Including Lee Jindong, Deputy Prosecutor General
The Democratic Party of Korea visited the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on the 10th to protest against the prosecution's decision to forgo an immediate appeal against the court's ruling to cancel the detention of President Yoon Seok-yeol, demanding the resignation of Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung.
On that day, members of the Democratic Party's Internal Investigation Team, including Chu Mi-ae, Seo Young-kyo, Park Seon-won, Kang Yoo-jung, Kim Ki-pyo, and Lee Sung-yoon, visited the Supreme Prosecutors' Office building in Seocho-gu, Seoul, and held a meeting with senior prosecutors for about an hour. It is known that Lee Jin-dong, Deputy Prosecutor General, and Jeon Moo-gon, Director of the Planning and Coordination Department, attended the meeting.
According to the attending lawmakers, the investigation team urged the senior prosecutors to explore ways to secure President Yoon's custody, including filing a regular appeal. They also demanded that if there is no intention to re-arrest President Yoon, Prosecutor General Shim should resign along with them.
On the same day, Deputy Prosecutor General Lee explained to the Democratic Party lawmakers that the decision to forgo the immediate appeal was made considering the principles of due process, human rights protection, and the constitutional principle of prohibition of excess.
The investigation team held a press conference stating, "Prosecutor General Shim has confessed to being an accomplice in the rebellion himself. He gave the order to forgo the immediate appeal against the rebel leader Yoon Seok-yeol and to release him," and added, "We are filing charges against Prosecutor General Shim, who admitted to being an accomplice in the rebellion." They further claimed, "Ignoring the legal opinion of Park Se-hyun, head of the Special Investigation Headquarters, who strongly recommended the immediate appeal, is an abuse of authority that infringes even on the internal democracy of the prosecution," and "The decision to forgo the immediate appeal is a clear dereliction of duty."
Earlier that day, Prosecutor General Shim, while arriving at work in the morning, explained to reporters the reason for not filing an immediate appeal against the cancellation of President Yoon's detention, saying, "I sincerely followed the principle of due process," and "I made the decision after considering various opinions from the investigation team and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office chiefs' meeting." He added, "I do not think this constitutes grounds for resignation or impeachment. Impeachment is the authority of the National Assembly, so if the procedure proceeds, I will respond accordingly."
After the court's decision to accept the request to cancel detention on the 7th, the prosecution, after 27 hours of deliberation, decided to forgo the immediate appeal and ordered President Yoon's release. During this process, differences of opinion were exposed between the Special Investigation Headquarters, which advocated for the immediate appeal, and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, which concluded with the release order.
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