Yoon Seok-yeol's Lawyer Lee Wan-gyu: "The Complete Prosecution Reform Law is a Return to a Police State... A Law Hard to Even Imagine"

Prominent Criminal Law Expert and Former Prosecutor Known for Candid Remarks
"Even If Police Investigations Plead Unjust, We Cannot Release Them... Laws That Harm the People"
"The Democratic Party Also Has Legal Professionals, So How Did It Come to This?"

Lawyer Lee Wankyu.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] Lawyer Lee Wan-gyu (61, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 23), who served as the legal representative for President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol when he was suspended from duty and disciplined by former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae, criticized the Democratic Party's proposed 'complete prosecution investigation rights abolition' bill, calling it "a law so absurd that even if students made it as a joke, it would be unimaginable to criticize."

In a post on his Facebook early on the 18th, Lawyer Lee stated, "The Democratic Party's bill to abolish prosecution investigation rights is a law so absurd that even if students made it as a joke, it would be unimaginable to criticize."

He continued, "Did the lawmaker who truly proposed this bill actually create it? If someone else made it, I am really curious who that might be."

He emphasized, "A bill that completely prevents prosecutors from participating in investigative procedures and dismantles mechanisms to correct improper or insufficient police investigations cannot be found in any other country," adding, "The absence of such a law in other countries is because such laws cannot fulfill the prosecution function, and it creates a gap in the control of police investigations, which all countries prioritize."

He added, "When citizens appeal against unfairness in police investigations, no one can resolve their grievances," calling it "a bill that harms the people."

Lawyer Lee said, "The checks and balances that prosecutors performed through investigation supervision and supplementary investigations have been dismantled, and even if citizens ask prosecutors to resolve their grievances, prosecutors can now do nothing," adding, "Moreover, no alternative checks and balances have been established, so police investigations have become an uncontrollable sanctuary."

He pointed out, "In the West, during revolutionary processes such as the French Revolution, there was historical progress in escaping the police state and establishing liberal democratic republics by introducing prosecutors as quasi-judicial public prosecutors to control police investigations. This progress is being denied in the Republic of Korea, which is regressing toward a police state."

He continued, "This kind of bill is being proposed in reality, in the democratic republic of Korea, with the consent of 172 lawmakers from a single party, and that party is rushing to pass it despite opposition from the legal community, academia, and civic groups," adding, "Since this is a change in government functions and organization, the government's intention should be reflected, but the prosecution's opposition is being ignored."

Lawyer Lee also expressed regret toward President Moon Jae-in, who remains silent, and lawmakers from the Democratic Party with legal backgrounds.

He said, "What is even stranger is that the president, as the head of government, remains silent in this situation," expressing his frustration, "It's so frustrating. That party has legal professionals and lawyers, so how did it come to this? Where can this be corrected from?"

Finally, Lawyer Lee concluded, "Is the foundation of legal education flawed? If ideological factionalism is paralyzing rational thinking and collective mania is being legislated by majority rule, it is a very frightening situation."

Lawyer Lee was regarded as a leading criminal law theorist within the prosecution since his days as a prosecutor, having co-authored the book 'Korean Prosecution and the Prosecution Office Act' with Lawyer Lee Jun-bo, former Daegu High Prosecutor's Office Chief, while serving as the head of the Bucheon branch in 2017.

At the end of 2020, during the 'Choo-Yoon (秋尹) conflict' phase, he served as legal counsel for President-elect Yoon's disciplinary administrative lawsuit alongside Lawyers Son Kyung-sik (60, class 24) and Lee Seok-woong (63, class 14). It is known that President-elect Yoon personally contacted Lawyer Lee, a fellow alumnus from Seoul National University Law School class of '79 and Judicial Research and Training Institute classmate, to seek help.

In early 2003, while serving as a research officer at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office as a junior prosecutor, Lawyer Lee attended a 'Dialogue with Prosecutors Nationwide' held by the late President Roh Moo-hyun shortly after his inauguration, where he raised issues about prosecution personnel matters directly to the president.

At that time, President Roh appointed Lawyer Kang Kum-sil, a former judge, as Minister of Justice. Lawyer Lee candidly stated, "With the Minister of Justice's recommendation rights and substantial personnel authority, political influence has repeatedly entered our prosecution."

His principled stance was no exception for his friend, President-elect Yoon. In May 2017, early in the Moon Jae-in administration, when President Moon unexpectedly appointed Yoon Seok-yeol as Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office through a disruptive personnel move, Lawyer Lee raised procedural issues, stating, "The appointment of the Central District Prosecutor without the Minister of Justice's recommendation while the ministerial post is vacant violates laws and regulations," then resigned and left the prosecution.

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