After the Democratic Party of Korea recommended as the second comprehensive special counsel candidate a lawyer who represented a defendant in the SSANGBANGWOOL illegal remittance to North Korea case, President Lee Jae-myung was reported on the 8th to have shown strong displeasure. Analysts said the rift between the presidential office and the ruling party has surfaced.
The SSANGBANGWOOL remittance to North Korea case involves allegations that SSANGBANGWOOL paid, on behalf of Gyeonggi Province, the $5 million in support for a promised smart farm project for the North and the $3 million expense for a visit to North Korea by then-Governor President Lee Jae-myung to North Korean officials. Lee Hwa-young, former Gyeonggi Province vice governor for peace and known as a close aide to the president, had a sentence of 7 years and 8 months finalized by the Supreme Court last year on charges including bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes in connection with the case.
Earlier, on the 5th, the president appointed Kwon Chang-young (Judicial Research and Training Institute class 28), a former judge and an attorney at Jipyong, as special counsel for the second comprehensive probe to supplement the investigations into the insurrection, Kim Keon-hee, and the fallen Marine cases and to investigate new allegations.
Under the special counsel law, the Democratic Party of Korea and the Rebuilding Korea Party can each recommend one candidate. Attorney Kwon was recommended by the Rebuilding Korea Party. The Democratic Party of Korea recommended Jeon Jun-cheol (class 31), a former prosecutor and an attorney at Lee & Ko.
Analysts said it was unusual that the president appointed the person recommended by the Rebuilding Korea Party rather than the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. The president was said to have expressed displeasure to aides over the Democratic Party of Korea putting forward attorney Jeon as a candidate.
Attorney Jeon defended former Chairman Kim Sung-tae in the 2023 SSANGBANGWOOL illegal remittance to North Korea case, and criticism reportedly arose over whether it was appropriate to recommend such a figure as special counsel. Jeon was said to have been retained as defense counsel for Kim and others on the SSANGBANGWOOL side but resigned after the first trial.
There was criticism within the Democratic Party of Korea over recommending attorney Jeon. Rep. Park Hong-keun of the Democratic Party of Korea wrote on social media the previous day that "our party thrust before the president as a special counsel candidate a legal professional from the prosecution who sided with the effort to kill Lee Jae-myung." He added, "Is the party leadership in its right mind? I urge Chairman Jung Chung-rae to promptly clarify the facts and hold those responsible strictly accountable."
Rep. Lee Sung-yoon of the Democratic Party of Korea, who was said to have recommended attorney Jeon, wrote on social media that day, "It is entirely my responsibility that unnecessary controversy has arisen." He added, "Attorney Jeon Jun-cheol was a principled and capable prosecutor who, because he was deeply involved with me in investigations such as the 'Kim Keon-hee stock manipulation case' and the 'Han Dong-hoon Channel A case,' came under pressure, including searches and seizures, after the Yoon Suk-yeol administration took office."
Rep. Lee did not say whether he knew in advance that attorney Jeon had represented former Chairman Kim.
In a statement released through Rep. Lee, attorney Jeon said, "The part of the defense I handled (in relation to the SSANGBANGWOOL case) concerned personal embezzlement and breach of trust by SSANGBANGWOOL executives and employees, and it had nothing to do with remittances to the North."