The Choice of Prosecutor Lee Sung-yoon Facing Unexpected Rivals ‘Lee Jae-yong and Han Dong-hoon’...

Attention on Lee Seong-yoon, Seoul Central District Prosecutor, Ahead of Promotion to High Prosecutor
Significant Impact on Government Pushing Prosecution Reform as Well as Prosecutorial Career
Interest in This Week's High Prosecutor Promotions... Lee's Calculations Become More Complex
Legal Community: "Non-Prosecution Is the Principle When Charges Cannot Be Proven"

Lee Seong-yoon, the newly appointed Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, is attending the inauguration ceremony held on the 13th at the Central Prosecutors' Office building in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporters Seokjin Choi, Hyungmin Kim] Lee Seong-yoon, the chief prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, who has aggressively led investigations into major cases such as the Samsung merger and the alleged collusion between prosecutors and media, recently appears to be facing unexpected challenges and is in a state of concern.

The series of decisions he must make are expected to significantly impact not only his career as a prosecutor but also the direction of the current government, which has been pushing for prosecutorial reform.

According to the legal community on the 27th, with the appointment of senior officials at the level of chief prosecutors or higher imminent, Chief Prosecutor Lee must decide whether to indict Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon, based on the recommendations of the Prosecutorial Investigation Deliberation Committee composed of external experts, which advised to 'halt the investigation.'

Regarding the 'prosecutor-media collusion' case, although the detention period of former Channel A reporter Lee Dong-jae has been extended by ten days, allowing some time, it seems difficult to find grounds to continue the investigation or indict Prosecutor Han, against whom the committee recommended 'non-prosecution' and 'investigation suspension.'

However, since Prosecutor Han showed signs of 'insubordination' by requesting an independent investigation from Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol during the investigation process, and Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae even exercised her authority to direct the investigation, if the prosecution fails to prove Prosecutor Han's guilt, he will have to bear full responsibility.

In particular, as the already released transcripts do not clearly reveal Prosecutor Han's collusion, voices demanding an investigation into the suspicion that this case is a 'political-media collusion' involving ruling party politicians and the media colluding with whistleblowers are growing stronger, which adds significant pressure on him.

The case involving Vice Chairman Lee is even more perplexing. Early last month, in response to Vice Chairman Lee's request to convene the investigation deliberation committee, the prosecution immediately filed an arrest warrant, but the court dismissed it without even mentioning that the criminal facts were substantiated.

Furthermore, on the 26th of last month, the investigation deliberation committee also recommended 'non-prosecution' and 'investigation suspension.' The investigation, which had been conducted with the highest intensity at the Central District Prosecutors' Office for over a year and a half, has thus fallen apart without even having the basic criminal charges recognized.

Accordingly, the fact that more than a month has passed since the investigation deliberation committee's results were announced without a conclusion indirectly reflects Chief Prosecutor Lee's position.

Chief Prosecutor Lee and the Central District Prosecutors' Office are suspected of being involved in the recent leak of the fact that the late former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon was accused, and on the 18th, a KBS false report related to the Han Dong-hoon?Lee Dong-jae transcripts also pointed to a senior official at the Central District Prosecutors' Office as the source.

What complicates Chief Prosecutor Lee's calculations further is the Ministry of Justice's expected prosecutorial personnel reshuffle this week.

Within prosecutorial circles, it is anticipated that this reshuffle will again weaken Prosecutor General Yoon's influence and strengthen Chief Prosecutor Lee's position. With up to ten vacancies at the chief prosecutor level or higher already existing, and considering the possibility of more resignations this week, the scale of this reshuffle could be larger than the previous one. This means that personnel decisions reflecting Minister Choo's intentions have become more feasible.

The biggest point of interest is whether Minister Choo will retain Chief Prosecutor Lee or promote him to a senior prosecutor position. Considering that there are important pending cases to be concluded at the Central District Prosecutors' Office, retention is likely, but there is also sufficient room to promote him to a senior prosecutor position, taking into account the Prosecutor General's term.

However, in this case, it remains to be seen whether Chief Prosecutor Lee will conclude the judicial processing of Vice Chairman Lee and Prosecutor Han before the personnel change or leave it to his successor.

Meanwhile, within the ruling party, after the investigation deliberation committee last week issued an opinion to 'halt the investigation and not prosecute' Prosecutor Han, there have been moves to undermine the legitimacy of the committee's recommendations by pointing out that 'there is a problem with the system itself.'

However, in the legal community, voices are emerging that, considering the purpose of the investigation deliberation committee system introduced by the Ministry of Justice and the prosecution as part of prosecutorial reform measures, opinions differing from the prosecution's stance should be respected as much as possible.

Attorney A, a former senior prosecutor, said, "'There is a saying that even if ten criminals are let go, one innocent victim should not be created.' This means that, as much as discovering the substantive truth, it is important to conduct investigations based on the 'presumption of innocence' principle to ensure that no one is wrongfully accused."

He added, "If the prosecution pushes ahead with indictment in a 'let's just put them on trial first' manner without securing solid evidence supporting the collusion between the two, it could be seen as an irresponsible decision considering the damage to their reputations and other harms they would suffer during the criminal trial."

Another attorney B, also a former prosecutor, said, "Following the investigation deliberation committee's opinion means admitting that the previous investigation was flawed, which is burdensome at first, but if the prosecution has not secured reliable testimony or evidence to confidently prove the charges despite the investigation, non-prosecution is the correct course."

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