Former Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok said the National Assembly's "parliamentary investigation into allegations of fabricated indictments by the Yoon Suk-yeol administration" is a measure that shakes the rule of law and the judicial system.
In a statement on the 12th, Lee said, "This parliamentary investigation is overturning, in just a few days, the facts and legal principles that courts have examined and judged dozens to hundreds of times over several years," adding, "Evidence recognized by the courts is being excluded, while the unilateral claims of defendants who were convicted and some biased counterevidence are being pushed to the forefront, and the National Assembly is even handing down a definitive verdict that it was a 'fabricated indictment and not guilty.'"
Lee said, "Summoning about 40 incumbent prosecutors as witnesses and grilling them like criminals just because they investigated figures in politics places external pressure on investigations and trials and greatly shrinks the judicial system," adding, "If such a parliamentary investigation proceeds, there will be, without question, no prosecutors or judges willing to take on and carry out investigations and trials into the political sphere and those in power going forward."
He continued, "On the grounds that investigations targeted 'my side,' the National Assembly, the Ministry of Justice, the prosecution, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), and special prosecutors have been fully mobilized to methodically carry out a parliamentary investigation, complaints, inspections, disciplinary actions, investigations, and travel bans, and are openly publicizing them," adding, "If judged by investigative standards, this is clearly retaliatory, targeted, orchestrated, biased, and coercive investigation."
Lee also took issue with the National Assembly conducting a parliamentary audit into cases in which rulings have been delivered or trials are ongoing, especially the North Korea remittance case whose Supreme Court ruling has been finalized. He argued that the National Assembly is effectively trying to substitute for the courts' role by rejudging cases, which violates the constitutional principle of separation of powers by the legislature encroaching on the functions of the judiciary.
He added, "It has also been pointed out that this runs afoul of the Parliamentary Investigation Act, which provides that 'the National Assembly's audits or investigations shall not be conducted with the purpose of intervening in trials and investigations,'" saying, "A parliamentary investigation that exerts external pressure not only on prosecutors on the front lines who have striven to uncover the substantive truth but also on ongoing court trials and judges will collapse the rule of law and the judicial system."
Lee served as the first prosecutor general under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, serving for about 2 years and 4 months until Sept. 2024. During his tenure, major investigations proceeded, including alleged corruption in the Daejang-dong development, alleged remittances to North Korea involving SSANGBANGWOOL, and alleged cover-up of the killing of a public official in the West Sea.
The National Assembly is conducting a parliamentary investigation to uncover allegations that prosecutors during the Yoon Suk-yeol administration carried out targeted investigations and filed fabricated indictments against President Lee Jae-myung (then leader of the Democratic Party of Korea). Lee has been summoned as a witness and is scheduled to appear on the 16th.