'Lee Seong-yoon Prosecution Review Committee' Held Today... Focus on Indictment Recommendation

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Prosecutorial Investigation Deliberation Committee will hold a meeting today regarding Lee Seong-yoon, the Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, who is facing indictment over allegations of exerting external pressure to obstruct the investigation into former Vice Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui's illegal travel ban case.

The committee members will convene at 2 p.m. on the 10th at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office to assess whether to prosecute or continue the investigation against Chief Prosecutor Lee and will provide recommendations to the investigation team.

Fifteen current members of the committee will participate in the meeting. They were randomly selected from 150 to 250 experts across various fields including the legal community, academia, media, and civic groups. Former Supreme Court Justice Yang Chang-soo will preside over the meeting as chairman.

The members will base their decision on whether to prosecute or continue the investigation on written opinions of up to 30 pages submitted by both the investigation team and Chief Prosecutor Lee’s defense counsel.

The committee’s recommendations are non-binding, meaning the prosecution is not obligated to follow them.

The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office investigation team is reportedly planning to indict Chief Prosecutor Lee regardless of the committee’s outcome. The Supreme Prosecutors' Office is said to share the same view, raising the possibility of immediate indictment following the meeting.

The investigation team believes that Chief Prosecutor Lee, who was then head of the Anti-Corruption and Violence Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, exerted external pressure to halt the investigation into former Vice Minister Kim’s illegal travel ban allegations. They have reportedly secured sufficient evidence and are confident that the committee will recommend prosecution during this meeting.

On the other hand, Chief Prosecutor Lee’s side denies exerting any improper pressure and claims that the prosecution is conducting a 'targeted investigation.' They have emphasized through their written opinion that the prosecution’s investigation is biased and flawed. It is also expected that they will argue that the case should be investigated by the High-ranking Officials’ Crime Investigation Office (Gong-su-cheo), not the prosecution.

If the committee also votes in favor of prosecution and continued investigation, criticism will be inevitable that a senior prosecution official has publicly expressed distrust in the prosecution’s investigation without clear justification. Growing internal distrust toward Chief Prosecutor Lee could also affect his prospects for promotion to Chief Prosecutor of a High Prosecutors' Office.

The Prosecutorial Investigation Deliberation Committee was introduced in 2018 to review the investigation process and evaluate the legality of results in cases involving social controversies. It has been convened a total of 12 times so far. This is the second time a current prosecutor has requested a committee review, following the investigation deliberation for Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon’s Channel A case last year.

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