Choo Mi-ae rebuts Lee Jae-myung's extremism warning over prosecutor nominee
In short
President Lee Jae-myung said in an X post on the night of October 4 that “irresponsible extremism” must be guarded against on the left and the right, without naming anyone. Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae answered in an early-hours Facebook post on October 5, saying she would “leave behind the truth rather than a wretched silence” and disputing the presidential office's account of the nomination of Kim Ji-yong to head the Serious Crime Investigation Agency. Kukmin Ilbo also reported that Lim Eun-jung called the situation a “cautionary tale”.
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President Lee Jae-myung said in a post on X on the night of October 4 that “irresponsible extremism” must be guarded against “on the left or the right, at the front or the rear”, adding that reckless claims and ungrounded incitement often stem from self-interest rather than the good of the country. He did not name anyone, but Seoul Economic Daily reported that the message was interpreted as aimed at hardliners in the ruling camp opposing the nomination of Kim Ji-yong as head of the Serious Crime Investigation Agency. [ 2 ]
Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae responded in a Facebook post in the early hours of October 5, saying she would “leave behind the truth rather than a wretched silence”. Newsis also carried the remark, describing it as a jab at Kim. Choo said she could not stay silent because a briefing by the presidential public communications secretary contained what she called clearly false claims. [ 2 , 3 ]
Choo, who previously served as justice minister, set out her account of the two prosecution cases at the centre of the dispute. She said that on July 2, 2020 she directed that the prosecutor general be excluded from the Channel A case and that the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office investigate independently, so Kim — who took up the Supreme Prosecutors' Office criminal division post on June 11, 2021 — could not have been involved at all, making the claim that he refused a forensic examination “clearly false”. She also said Kim, as part of the chain of command in the complaint-tipping case, could not escape responsibility for the failure to forensically examine the phone of then-Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo, and described the nominee as part of what she called the prosecution forces. [ 2 ]
Kukmin Ilbo reported in its headline that Lim Eun-jung described the situation as a “cautionary tale”; the outlet's feed carried no article text, so no further detail on her remarks was available. Newsis's article text published under its headline dealt with a separate DMZ mine incident rather than this exchange. [ 1 , 3 ]
Why it matters
The exchange exposes friction inside the ruling camp over a senior law-enforcement appointment tied to prosecution reform, an issue the outgoing justice minister and the president's office are both addressing in public. Because the clash is taking place on social media between a sitting governor and the presidential office's briefing line, it keeps the dispute over the nominee visible rather than settling it.
Key facts
- President Lee Jae-myung said in an X post on the night of October 4 that “irresponsible extremism” must be guarded against “on the left or the right, at the front or the rear” [ 2 ]
- Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae responded in an early-morning Facebook post on October 5 that she would “leave behind the truth rather than a wretched silence” [ 2 , 3 ]
- The dispute concerns the nomination of Kim Ji-yong as head of the Serious Crime Investigation Agency [ 2 , 3 ]
- Choo said she wrote publicly because a briefing by the presidential public communications secretary contained what she called clearly false claims [ 2 ]
- Choo said she directed the exclusion of the prosecutor general from the 2020 Channel A case on July 2, 2020, so Kim, who took up the Supreme Prosecutors' Office criminal division post on June 11, 2021, could not have been involved [ 2 ]
- Choo also said Kim cannot escape responsibility over the failure to forensically examine then-Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo's phone in the complaint-tipping case [ 2 ]
- Lee did not name anyone, but his message was interpreted as aimed at hardliners opposing Kim's appointment [ 2 ]
- Kukmin Ilbo's headline reported that Lim Eun-jung described the situation as a “cautionary tale” [ 1 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- Whether President Lee's warning was directed at opponents of Kim Ji-yong's nomination Seoul Economic Daily says Lee named no one and that the interpretation was raised in the surrounding context; no document states it directly
- What Lim Eun-jung said beyond the phrase “cautionary tale” Only Kukmin Ilbo's headline mentions her remark; the outlet's feed carried no article text
- Details of Newsis's reporting on the exchange The article text published under the Newsis headline concerns a separate DMZ mine incident, so only its headline can be used for this event
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Kukmin Ilbo publishes a headline saying President Lee's warning appeared not to have worked, quoting Choo Mi-ae saying she would leave the truth rather than a “wretched silence” and Lim Eun-jung calling it a “cautionary tale” [ 1 ]
- Seoul Economic Daily publishes Choo Mi-ae's detailed Facebook arguments disputing the presidential office briefing on Kim Ji-yong and the 2020–2021 prosecution cases [ 2 ]
- Newsis reports Choo Mi-ae's remark, framing it as a jab at Kim Ji-yong [ 3 ]