National Assembly Judiciary Committee, Ruling Party Targets 'Yoon Seok-yeol', Opposition Party Targets 'Lee Jae-myung'

Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo is reporting on his duties at the National Assembly Judiciary Committee's audit held on the morning of the 18th at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Geum Bo-ryeong] The key themes of the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office were divided between 'Lee Jae-myung' and 'Yoon Seok-yeol.' The Democratic Party targeted former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, while the People Power Party focused on Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's final candidate (current Governor of Gyeonggi Province).

At the audit held on the 18th at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul, Democratic Party lawmaker So Byung-chul pointed out, "Is it acceptable for (former Prosecutor General Yoon) to leave after causing destruction and then insult and criticize junior prosecutors?"

On this day, the Democratic Party repeatedly criticized former Prosecutor General Yoon. Democratic Party lawmaker Park Ju-min referred to the first trial ruling on Yoon's disciplinary lawsuit delivered on the 14th, explaining, "If you look at the content, it states that he gave improper orders beyond the scope of his duties. That phrase seems to correspond to abuse of authority."

Park continued, "The court not only recognized the disciplinary action as justified but also repeatedly used the term 'improper orders.' I believe that investigations and inspections related to these actions should be conducted, not just stopping at the disciplinary reasons," emphasizing this point. On the same day, the Democratic Party filed a complaint against former Prosecutor General Yoon with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) for abuse of power and violation of the Personal Information Protection Act.

Earlier in the morning, Democratic Party lawmaker Song Ki-heon brought up the 'Busan Savings Bank bad loan case' from 2011, focusing on the connection between former Prosecutor General Yoon and the preferential treatment allegations in the Daejang-dong development project. Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Soo-jin also said, "It keeps coming out how former Prosecutor General Yoon privatized and abused prosecutorial power as a political prosecutor, making it really hard to study."

On the other hand, the People Power Party appeared to be fully committed to attacking candidate Lee. In particular, they raised questions about the relationship between Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo and Seongnam City. People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Han-hong said, "Prosecutor General Kim has too many connections with Seongnam City. He served as a legal advisor; if he was volunteering for the community, wouldn't that be something to be proud of? Then why did he hide it?"

Yoon also stated, "The Mayor of Seongnam and Seongnam City Hall are at the core of the Daejang-dong gate. Because he was a legal advisor for Seongnam City, the search and seizure was delayed, and key departments like the mayor's office and secretariat were excluded. They are just pretending to investigate," adding, "I think this is a conflict of interest, and he should voluntarily step away from this case."

Lawmaker Jeon Ju-hye also criticized Prosecutor General Kim, saying, "Although he may feel wronged, the fact that he is partially involved with Seongnam City inevitably raises suspicion among the public." She added, "The materials provided by Seongnam City bear candidate Lee's signature. Looking at them, there are items to ensure that the private sector does not prioritize profits. If candidate Lee was unaware, it is incompetence; if he knew, it is corruption. Whether candidate Lee was involved in the structure that granted preferential treatment is important because he is the Democratic Party's presidential candidate."

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