Ministry of Justice Suspends Prosecutor Lee Junghyun for One Month Over "Channel A Case" Investigation

Supreme Prosecutors' Office: "Failure to Submit Paper, No Extension Approval"
Prosecutor Lee: "Purpose and Grounds for Disciplinary Action Are Unjust"... Claims "Disciplinary Review Was Merely a Formality"

The Ministry of Justice's disciplinary committee has decided to suspend Lee Junghyun, a research fellow at the Judicial Research and Training Institute (prosecutor-general level) who led the investigation into the so-called "Channel A case" that drew attention due to allegations of collusion between prosecutors and the media, for one month. The reason given was that Lee failed to meet the deadline for submitting a research paper. Lee has countered, stating that "the purpose and grounds for the disciplinary action are unjustified."

Yonhap News

According to the legal community on April 23, the disciplinary committee convened the previous afternoon and reached this decision after reviewing the grounds that Lee did not submit his research paper within the required one-year period and did not obtain approval to extend the deadline. Under the Prosecutors' Disciplinary Act, disciplinary actions are divided into five levels: reprimand, salary reduction, suspension, dismissal, and removal. The suspension Lee received is considered a severe disciplinary action. The Supreme Prosecutors' Office filed for disciplinary action in December of last year, citing breach of duty of diligence and damage to dignity due to failure to submit the research paper, among other reasons.

Lee, while serving as the first deputy chief prosecutor at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in 2020, led the investigation into attempted coercion charges involving Han Donghoon, former leader of the People Power Party, and Lee Dongjae, a former Channel A reporter. The prosecution indicted Lee Dongjae, but he was ultimately acquitted, and Han Donghoon was also cleared of all charges in April 2022. Lee was promoted to prosecutor-general during the Moon Jae-in administration and served as head of the Public Investigation Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, but was reassigned to the Judicial Research and Training Institute in May 2022 under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.

Following the Ministry of Justice's disciplinary decision, Lee issued a statement arguing that the purpose and grounds for the disciplinary action are unjust. He stated, "Despite retaliatory personnel measures, I did not give up my position as a prosecutor and faithfully carried out my research duties," adding, "Former Judicial Research and Training Institute Director Kim Seokwoo even cited my research activities as a model case in the lifelong prosecutor training program in March of last year."

He went on to say, "Depending on the research topic, it can be difficult to complete a paper within one year, and in such cases, it is sufficient to obtain approval for an extension. Therefore, the essence of the disciplinary reason is that I did not obtain 'two-month extension approvals.'" He continued, "I submitted a research plan to write a paper on industrial safety after thoroughly reviewing approximately 27,000 pages of extensive domestic and international materials, but I was disciplined for a procedural violation?failing to obtain written approval for an extension."

Lee argued that the relevant regulation is only advisory and that the previous day's disciplinary committee proceedings were merely a formality. He stated, "The requirement to obtain an extension approval is an advisory provision," and added, "There has never been a case in any government ministry where a disciplinary action of this nature was taken solely because a research fellow did not obtain approval to extend the deadline for submitting a research paper." He also claimed that the disciplinary committee, which was scheduled to convene at 3 p.m. the previous day, proceeded in a perfunctory manner, with deliberations ending in five minutes after a three-hour wait.