Seong-yoon Lee Investigation Review Committee to be Held Next Month... Will the 'Kim Hak-ui Case' Lead to Indictment? (Comprehensive Report 2)

Prosecutorial Investigation Deliberation Committee to Convene on May 10
Decision on Indictment and Continuation of Investigation

Investigation Team Confident in Prosecution... Sufficient Evidence
Less Burden from Chief Prosecutor Candidate Elimination

Seong-Yoon Lee, Chief Prosecutor of Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The Prosecutorial Investigation Deliberation Committee, which will decide whether to indict or continue the investigation of Lee Seong-yoon, the chief prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, who has been under investigation for the illegal travel ban case involving former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui, will be held on May 10.

According to the legal community on the 29th, the Prosecutorial Investigation Deliberation Committee under the Supreme Prosecutors' Office decided on the same day to convene a meeting at 2 p.m. on May 10 to review the case involving Chief Prosecutor Lee. Chairman Yang Chang-soo selected 15 current issue committee members from 150 to 250 experts in various fields such as academia, media, civic groups, and culture and arts through a lottery to review the case.

Based on written opinions of up to 30 pages submitted by the prosecution and Chief Prosecutor Lee's defense counsel on the day of deliberation, the committee members will judge whether to indict or continue the investigation and recommend to the investigation team. The conclusion will be announced on the day of the deliberation. The committee's judgment on indictment or investigation is only a recommendation, and the prosecution is not obligated to follow it.

The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office investigation team reportedly shows confidence that they can obtain an indictment opinion even if the committee is held immediately. This indicates that there is substantial evidence to prove Chief Prosecutor Lee's charges. On the other hand, there is also an opinion that the investigation team’s final stance on maintaining the indictment opinion is uncertain, as there is a possibility that the committee may recommend stopping the investigation and non-prosecution.

The fact that Chief Prosecutor Lee was excluded from the next prosecutor general candidate pool also acts as a factor that may relieve the investigation team's burden. On the same day, the Prosecutor General Candidate Recommendation Committee nominated four candidates for the next prosecutor general: former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Oh-soo, Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office Chief Prosecutor Koo Bon-seon, Director of the Judicial Research and Training Institute Bae Seong-beom, and Deputy Prosecutor General of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Cho Nam-gwan. From the perspective of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office investigation team, which has been investigating Chief Prosecutor Lee as a suspect for allegedly pressuring to halt the investigation during the 'Kim Hak-ui case,' this removes the burden of potentially being seen as a challenge to the president’s personnel authority.

Earlier, on the 22nd, Chief Prosecutor Lee applied to the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, which is investigating the illegal travel ban case, to convene the Prosecutorial Investigation Deliberation Committee. The legal community analyzed that Lee, who had been considered a strong candidate for prosecutor general, might have sought an external expert judgment to avoid being indicted before the Prosecutor General Candidate Recommendation Committee meeting. In response, Suwon High Prosecutors' Office Chief Prosecutor Oh In-seo, who is directing the investigation, immediately requested the Supreme Prosecutors' Office to convene the committee on the same day of Lee's application, and Acting Prosecutor General Cho Nam-gwan accepted the request the next day and decided to convene the committee.

The Prosecutorial Investigation Deliberation Committee was introduced in January 2018 in response to calls for checks on the prosecution's right to indict and has been held a total of 12 times so far. It is often convened in cases with high public interest or potential inter-agency conflicts, where the prosecution faces significant political pressure regarding decisions on investigation and indictment.

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