South Korea's Lee defends prosecution reform, rebuts critics in X posts
In short
President Lee Jae-myung said in X posts on Oct. 5 that his government separated investigation and prosecution into the Serious Crime Investigation Agency and the Public Prosecution Service, placed under the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety respectively, and that the separation of investigation and prosecution is now complete. He shared video of past remarks by Yoo Si-min, Cho Kuk and Kim Yong-min to rebut critics, and criticised ruling-camp hardliners opposing Kim Ji-yong’s appointment as head of the Serious Crime Investigation Agency. Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae reiterated her opposition to Kim’s appointment in a Facebook post.
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President Lee Jae-myung said in X posts on Oct. 5 that his government went “one step further” by separating investigation and prosecution into the Serious Crime Investigation Agency and the Public Prosecution Service and assigning them to the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. He said the separation of investigation and prosecution, which he called the essence of prosecution reform, is now complete, to the point that supplementary investigation is banned, according to Newsis, Asia Economy and Kyunghyang Shinmun. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
The president shared video of past remarks by author Yoo Si-min, Cho Kuk, head of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party’s innovation policy research institute, and Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Yong-min, in what the outlets described as an effort to rebut critics. Yoo said in a YouTube interview last month that he had never heard the president call the split of the investigating and prosecuting arms of the prosecution the maximum of reform, and that the president had “deceived the people.” Lee responded by sharing footage of an appearance on Yoo’s YouTube programme last April in which he said investigation and prosecution agencies must be separated “whether it’s within the Ministry of Justice or wherever.” [ 2 , 3 ]
The video also showed Cho Kuk saying in May 2024 that separating investigation and prosecution was “the beginning and core” of normalising the prosecution, and Kim Yong-min saying at the same event that it was the goal and endpoint. Lee said reform advocates had wanted the two bodies inside the Ministry of Justice, with supplementary investigation rights for the prosecution service, but that his government had gone further by separating their affiliations, and that stripping those rights had also been achieved. [ 2 , 3 ]
Earlier on Oct. 5, Lee wrote that prosecution reform “is for the people, not for creating the political legacy of specific individuals,” and that no one should try to control personnel and investigation or prosecution work “out of selfish motives.” Kyunghyang Shinmun reported the remarks were seen as aimed at ruling-camp hardliners opposing Kim Ji-yong’s appointment as head of the Serious Crime Investigation Agency, whose confirmation hearing request was sent to the National Assembly on Oct. 2. The previous night, Lee wrote that “irresponsible extremists” who “deceive the public based on lies” were spreading incitement “like a fad.” [ 2 , 3 ]
Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae reiterated her opposition to Kim’s appointment in a Facebook post early on Oct. 5, saying she would “leave the truth rather than a shabby silence.” Kyunghyang Shinmun reported she raised Kim’s responsibility, as then-head of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office criminal department, over the failure to conduct forensics on the phone of then-prosecutor-general Han Dong-hoon during the “Channel A prosecution-media collusion” investigation, contradicting the Blue House’s vetting finding that he could not have been involved. [ 3 ]
Lee also said the new investigation agency would strictly investigate public-official corruption, economic crimes such as stock manipulation and collusion, and white-collar crimes, while the Public Prosecution Service would defend human rights and handle indictments. He said concerns about abuse of investigative power and the concealment or distortion of cases would be addressed through internal control, inspection and a thorough review of non-prosecution cases. [ 2 ]
Why it matters
The leadership of the new Serious Crime Investigation Agency is contested inside South Korea’s ruling camp, and the president has now entered that dispute publicly ahead of a confirmation hearing whose date and outcome the documents do not give. The documents do not indicate how the dispute over the appointment or over the assessment of the reform will be resolved.
Key facts
- President Lee Jae-myung said in X posts on Oct. 5 that the government separated investigation and prosecution into the Serious Crime Investigation Agency and the Public Prosecution Service and assigned them to the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety respectively. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Lee said the separation of investigation and prosecution, which he called the essence of prosecution reform, is complete, to the point that supplementary investigation is banned. [ 2 ]
- Lee said the government went further than earlier proposals, which he said placed both bodies inside the Ministry of Justice with supplementary investigation rights for the prosecution service, by separating their affiliations and stripping supplementary investigation rights. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Lee shared video of past remarks by author Yoo Si-min and Cho Kuk, head of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party’s innovation policy research institute, to rebut critics of the government’s reform. [ 2 , 3 ]
- The shared video also included Cho Kuk saying in May 2024 that separating investigation and prosecution was “the beginning and core” of normalising the prosecution, and Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Yong-min saying at the same event that it was the goal and endpoint. [ 2 , 3 ]
- Lee wrote that prosecution reform “is for the people, not for creating the political legacy of specific individuals,” and that no one should try to control personnel and investigation or prosecution work “out of selfish motives under the guise of prosecution reform.” [ 2 , 3 ]
- Kyunghyang Shinmun reported the remarks were seen as aimed at ruling-camp hardliners opposing Kim Ji-yong’s appointment as head of the Serious Crime Investigation Agency, whose confirmation hearing request was sent to the National Assembly on Oct. 2. [ 3 ]
- Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae reiterated her opposition to Kim’s appointment in a Facebook post early on Oct. 5, raising his alleged responsibility over the failure to conduct forensics on then-prosecutor-general Han Dong-hoon’s phone during the “Channel A prosecution-media collusion” investigation. [ 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- President Lee Jae-myung said on Oct. 5 that the government separated investigation and prosecution into the Serious Crime Investigation Agency and the Public Prosecution Service and assigned them to the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety respectively. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Lee said the government went further than earlier proposals by separating the affiliation of the two bodies as well. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Lee shared video of past remarks by Yoo Si-min and Cho Kuk as part of his response to critics of the government’s prosecution reform. [ 2 , 3 ]
- Lee said prosecution reform is for the people and not for creating the political legacy of specific individuals. [ 2 , 3 ]
Still unclear
- Whether Kim Ji-yong will be appointed head of the Serious Crime Investigation Agency. The documents say his confirmation hearing request was sent to the National Assembly on Oct. 2 and that opposition within the ruling camp is growing, but give no hearing date, result or decision.
- Whether the government’s measures amount to the “completion” of prosecution reform. President Lee says the separation of investigation and prosecution is complete, while author Yoo Si-min and Governor Choo Mi-ae dispute the assessment or the appointment tied to it; the documents report the disagreement without resolving it.
- Choo Mi-ae’s claim that Kim Ji-yong bore responsibility over the failure to examine Han Dong-hoon’s phone. Reported only by Kyunghyang Shinmun, which also reports the Blue House’s vetting finding that Kim could not have been involved — a contested, single-source claim.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Newsis reports President Lee’s X post saying the government went a step further by separating investigation and prosecution into the Serious Crime Investigation Agency and the Public Prosecution Service, assigned to the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. [ 1 ]
- Asia Economy reports Lee’s statement that the separation of investigation and prosecution is complete and his rebuttal of critics, including the videos of past remarks by Yoo Si-min, Cho Kuk and Kim Yong-min. [ 2 ]
- Kyunghyang Shinmun reports Lee’s direct rebuttal of Yoo Si-min, his criticism of ruling-camp hardliners opposed to Kim Ji-yong’s appointment, and Choo Mi-ae’s Facebook post reiterating her opposition. [ 3 ]