Jeon Ju-hye "Prosecutors Loyal to Power Are Here" Remarks Spark Ruling and Opposition Parties' Clash

From the left, Jeon Ju-hye, member of the People Power Party, and Song Ki-heon, member of the Democratic Party of Korea.

[Asia Economy Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist Reporter] At the National Assembly audit session on the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, Suwon High Prosecutors' Office, and their subordinate local prosecutors' offices, People Power Party lawmaker Jeon Ju-hye criticized that most of the prosecutors general who appeared as witnesses were "prosecutors general loyal to power," sparking intense clashes between ruling and opposition lawmakers.

During the morning session of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office held at the National Assembly on the 14th, before starting her questioning, Rep. Jeon said, "The prosecutors general present here today are not here out of loyalty to the people, but almost all of them are here out of loyalty to power, which weighs heavily on my heart."

At the audit session, prosecutors general who have been classified by the media and others as pro-government appeared as witnesses, including Lee Seong-yoon, Chief Prosecutor of Seoul High Prosecutors' Office; Lee Jeong-su, Chief Prosecutor of Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office; and Shim Jae-cheol, Chief Prosecutor of Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office. Shim led the disciplinary action against former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol last year, and Lee Seong-yoon had ongoing conflicts with Yoon. Lee Jeong-su, a high school junior of Justice Minister Park Beom-gye, has held key positions within the prosecution under this administration, including Chief Prosecutor of Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office and Director of the Prosecutor's Office at the Ministry of Justice, before being appointed to Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.

Rep. Jeon's remarks appear to be directed at these individuals.

After Rep. Jeon's questioning time ended, Rep. Song Ki-heon of the Democratic Party of Korea took the floor and requested a one-minute procedural statement from Judiciary Committee Chairman Park Gwang-on before launching a counterattack. Rep. Song is a former prosecutor who was commissioned at the Seoul District Prosecutors' Office in 1992 and served as a prosecutor until opening a law practice in 1999.

Rep. Song stated, "The National Assembly audit is a place to verify whether government agencies have performed well or poorly over the past year, and the law prohibits insulting the witnesses present here. However, some lawmakers have said to the witnesses, 'You are here out of loyalty to power, not the people,' which I believe is an insult to the witnesses who have served the country."

He added, "Especially since there are people here who are obviously seen as pro-Yoon (referring to supporters of Yoon Seok-yeol), such remarks can only cause resentment."

Rep. Song requested an apology from Rep. Jeon, saying, "I ask that you refrain from insulting the witnesses, and I hope the chairman will point this out and that the person who made the remarks will apologize."

In response, Rep. Jeon said, "What you just mentioned is something I said at last year's audit as well," and "If you look at the intent of my remarks, I did not single out anyone specifically. I said there are people like that among them."

When Rep. Song interrupted again during Rep. Jeon's remarks, Rep. Jeon stopped him, saying, "Please stop interrupting as I am speaking," and asked Chairman Park, "(Rep. Song) keeps interrupting my remarks, so I ask you to caution him."

Rep. Jeon then raised his voice, saying, "Think about it. What power-related investigations have there been in the past year? The only thing that comes to mind is the case of Vice Minister Kim Hak-ui's travel ban, which Prosecutor General Lee Seong-yoon was indicted for. The Optimus case was swept under the rug, the Lime case was swept under the rug. What investigations targeting the living power have there been in the past year?"

After Rep. Jeon's speaking time was exceeded and his microphone was turned off, a loud exchange occurred among Rep. Song, Rep. Jeon, and other ruling and opposition lawmakers, prompting Chairman Park to intervene, saying, "I will summarize. Please wrap it up."

At that moment, Rep. Yoon Han-hong, the People Power Party's secretary on the Judiciary Committee, took the microphone, saying, "Wait a moment."

Rep. Yoon, with a somewhat agitated tone, said, "Opposition lawmakers can criticize prosecutors during the audit. They can say whatever they want about pro-government prosecutors or pro-Moon prosecutors."

He continued, "Lawmakers are constitutional institutions. They conduct audits based on their judgment and convictions. If you interfere with that, what can you do? Even though Rep. Song Ki-heon is a former prosecutor, this is not the place for that. This is a place to criticize the executive branch," attacking Rep. Song.

When Rep. Song said, "We need to criticize properly," Rep. Yoon responded, "Why do you interrupt and prevent others from speaking during remarks? Rep. Song, you are not that kind of person. Are you the spokesperson for the Prosecutor's Office? You shouldn't do that," pressing Rep. Song again.

As Chairman Park tried to calm the situation again, Rep. So Byung-chul of the Democratic Party, also a former prosecutor, spoke up.

Rep. So said, "Here, Rep. Song Ki-heon, myself, and Rep. Yoo Sang-beom are seniors to the prosecutors general," and added, "Honestly, it was hard for me to listen to Rep. Jeon's remarks."

He continued, "After hearing Rep. Jeon's explanation, I can understand it to some extent, but these prosecutors have worked hard and come out to be audited by lawmakers..." expressing regret over Rep. Jeon's remarks.

Rep. So said, "As Rep. Yoon Han-hong said, criticism and rebuke are necessary. I also made painful criticisms to the current prosecutors general earlier," but added, "However, from our lawmakers' perspective, legal professionals' honor is their life, whether judges or prosecutors. So I hope we can handle this carefully and move on."

Finally, Chairman Park concluded the situation by saying, "I hope all lawmakers share and understand each other's opinions. When questioning, please consider protecting the dignity of the institution's witnesses as much as possible and speak with decorum. Thank you."

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