Former Representative Lee Cheol Also Requests Investigation Review Committee... Concerns Over External Judgment on Successive Major Prosecutor Decisions

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] Lee Cheol, former CEO of Value Invest Korea and the whistleblower in the 'prosecutor-media collusion' allegation, has requested the convening of the Prosecutorial Investigation Deliberation Committee (Investigation Deliberation Committee).

The purpose is to have external experts determine whether Channel A reporter Lee and Prosecutor B should be indicted in connection with the allegation. This appears to be a countermeasure following Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol's decision to convene a Special Investigation Advisory Panel at the request of reporter Lee.

According to the legal community on the 25th, Lee, who revealed that he was coerced by Channel A reporter Lee to provide information on the misconduct of ruling party politicians, submitted an application to convene the Investigation Deliberation Committee regarding the investigation of the complaint case against reporter Lee and Prosecutor B to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office that morning.

It is reported that Lee made this decision because, as a victim, he felt the situation was turning strange with the convening of the Special Investigation Advisory Panel and thought it necessary to seek an external judgment.

According to related guidelines, a crime victim, as a party involved in the case, can apply for the convening of the Investigation Deliberation Committee for cases under prosecution. However, in this case, the scope of deliberation is limited to 'whether to continue the investigation' and 'whether to indict,' excluding the decision on whether to request an arrest warrant, unlike when the chief prosecutor applies for convening.

With Lee's application received, the Chairperson of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Citizens' Committee must form a sub-deliberation committee to decide whether to refer the matter to the Investigation Deliberation Committee unless it falls under 'non-deliberation cases' or 'repeated applications for the same reason.' A prosecution official stated, "In this case, it does not seem that the chairperson would dismiss the application."

If the convening of the Investigation Deliberation Committee is decided following Lee's application, both the Investigation Deliberation Committee, composed of experts from various sectors of society, and the Special Investigation Advisory Panel, composed of prosecutors and legal experts, may be held simultaneously for the same case to review their validity respectively. Another prosecution official said, "The two systems do not exclude each other, so theoretically, they can be convened separately," but added, "However, it is expected that the scheduled convening of the Special Investigation Advisory Panel will be considered during the sub-deliberation committee's decision on whether to refer the case to the Investigation Deliberation Committee."

Previously, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office investigation team planned to request an arrest warrant for reporter Lee and summon Prosecutor B as a suspect, but Prosecutor General Yoon convened a meeting of senior officials at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, gathered their opinions, and decided to convene the Special Investigation Advisory Panel, which sparked controversy.

There are concerns that these systems, introduced to check the prosecution's exclusive right to indict by hearing external opinions, are being used by parties involved in cases, such as suspects or complainants, as means to steer investigations in their favor.

Attorney C, a former senior prosecutor, said, "I understand the positive aspect of the prosecution seeking external opinions to ensure objectivity and fairness in investigation procedures, but the excessive use of these systems in this way is problematic," adding, "Isn't this evidence that the parties directly under investigation and ordinary citizens watching the process distrust the prosecution's investigation?"

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.