Lee Jong-yeop, Lee Seong-yoon Targeted... "High Political Bias, Not Suitable"

Lee Jong-yeop, President of the Korean Bar Association [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Seongpil Jo, Daehyun Kim] Lee Jong-yeop, President of the Korean Bar Association, stated on the 29th, "A person who cannot trust their own organization is not qualified to be the head of that organization." This remark appears to be aimed at Lee Seong-yoon, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, who is regarded as having lost trust early on within the prosecution organization due to his pro-government stance.

On the morning of the same day, Lee attended a meeting of the Prosecutor General Candidate Recommendation Committee held at the Ministry of Justice in Gwacheon Government Complex, Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi Province. When asked by reporters, "What criteria will you use for evaluation?" he replied, "I think people with strong political bias are also unsuitable." When reporters asked if he was referring to Chief Prosecutor Lee, he responded with a smile. When asked whether the fact that the candidate is under investigation would be considered in the evaluation, he answered "Yes."

This contrasts with most committee members who gave only general answers or remained silent. Park Sang-gi, Chairman of the Prosecutor General Candidate Recommendation Committee who arrived at the Ministry of Justice before Lee, responded to reporters' questions about whether the ongoing investigation of Chief Prosecutor Lee would be taken into account by saying, "We will evaluate according to the regulations." Jung Young-hwan, President of the Korean Law Professors Association, said, "The next Prosecutor General candidate will be selected by the committee members working together to choose the person most suitable from the public's perspective at this time."

The recommendation committee meeting to narrow down the candidates for the next Prosecutor General began at 10 a.m. today. The list of candidates is expected to be announced this afternoon. According to the operating regulations of the Prosecutor General Candidate Recommendation Committee, the committee must select at least three candidates and recommend them to the Minister of Justice. The Minister then proposes one of them to the President.

The greatest interest lies in whether Chief Prosecutor Lee will be included among the three or more candidates. He is currently under investigation and facing prosecution by the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office over allegations of illegal travel ban related to former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui. Moreover, he has not earned strong trust within the prosecution due to aligning with the administration's agenda in major investigations. Given these risks, appointing Chief Prosecutor Lee as Prosecutor General is expected to cause significant aftereffects.

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