Special Prosecutor Bill for "Lee Choonseok Gate" to Be Proposed as Party Platform
Song Eonseok, Emergency Response Committee Chairman and Floor Leader of the People Power Party, on August 7 called for a special prosecutor's investigation regarding Representative Lee Choonseok, who left the Democratic Party of Korea amid allegations of stock trading under borrowed names. He plans to convene an emergency party caucus in the afternoon to discuss the proposal of a special prosecutor bill.
At the Emergency Response Committee meeting held at the National Assembly that day, Song stated, "This case is a power-related corruption scandal that cannot be thoroughly investigated by the police alone," emphasizing the need for a special investigation.
Song Eonseok, Emergency Response Committee Chairman and Floor Leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the Emergency Response Committee meeting held at the National Assembly on August 7, 2025. Photo by Kim Hyunmin
On August 5, Representative Lee was caught by the media at the National Assembly plenary session trading stocks using someone else's account on his mobile phone. The account, registered under the name of an aide rather than Lee himself, was shown to hold about 100 million won worth of stocks, including Naver, Kakao Pay, and LG CNS, with some trades taking place. Lee's publicly disclosed assets in the Public Official Ethics System do not include any securities.
Song asserted that "this is not a simple personal deviation, but a power-related case deeply connected to a major national policy project of the Lee Jaemyung administration," and labeled it the so-called "Lee Choonseok Gate," accusing Lee of abusing insider information.
He also demanded a full investigation into assets held under borrowed names by everyone who participated in the National Policy Planning Committee of the Lee Jaemyung administration.
Song stated, "The Democratic Party must address public suspicions about whether Lee Choonseok is the only one involved in unidentified financial transactions," adding, "If necessary, I also propose an investigation into all 300 members of the National Assembly."
The People Power Party plans to propose the special prosecutor bill as a party platform. To this end, an emergency party caucus was called for the afternoon. Chief Spokesperson Park Sunghoon explained that the scope of the special prosecutor's investigation "includes everyone who had access to undisclosed information, such as members of the Economic Subcommittee 2 of the National Policy Committee," and added, "The investigation could be expanded to include relevant standing committees or even all members of the National Assembly."
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