Lee Won-seok: "Summoning Lee Jae-myung was to give a chance to testify"... "If entrusted, I will lead the investigation of the Deutsche case"

Candidate for Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok is attending the confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly on the 5th, responding to questions from lawmakers. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] Candidate for Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok stated on the 5th during the National Assembly confirmation hearing that the summons request for Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who is facing charges including violation of the Public Official Election Act, was "to provide sufficient opportunity to testify."

During the confirmation hearing held from the morning, Lee responded to a question from Jeon Ju-hye, a member of the People Power Party, who asked, "Even if Representative Lee does not appear, can't the decision to indict be made based on evidence and legal principles?" by saying, "I will make judgments based solely on evidence and legal principles in all cases, not limited to this case."

When asked about the Democratic Party calling the summons a 'declaration of war,' he avoided a direct answer, saying, "Since the investigation is ongoing, I cannot provide detailed comments, but it is proceeding according to general procedures."

As related questions continued in the afternoon, Candidate Lee appeared to provide a more detailed explanation regarding the background of the summons request.

He rebutted Democratic Party member Kwon In-sook's statement that "summoning the opposition leader without proper procedural consultation over such an issue is essentially a threat to the opposition to seize public opinion control," by saying, "The claim that procedural consultation was not conducted is not true."

He also emphasized, "We requested a written response, but after the deadline passed without any statement from Representative Lee, we had no choice but to request a summons to provide an opportunity to explain. We will judge solely based on evidence and legal principles, and the investigation is proceeding according to normal and routine procedures without any other intentions."

When Kwon pointed out that "Representative Lee was summarily summoned right after being elected as party leader at the party convention," Lee retorted, "Then should we summon during the party convention, which is a festival and celebration for the opposition?"

He stressed the inevitability of the summons by saying, "South Korea is probably one of the very few countries with a short statute of limitations (6 months) for violations of the Public Official Election Act. The case against Representative Lee was transferred by the police on August 26, and we are in a position to conclude the case by September 9 at the latest."

He added, "We are not trying to fight with the National Assembly, which represents the people. How could we fight with the people? This is simply about doing what must be done. I hope there are no misunderstandings."

Meanwhile, on the same day, Candidate Lee expressed his intention to personally oversee the investigation if appointed Prosecutor General in response to opposition lawmakers' questions regarding the 'Deutsche Motors stock manipulation case,' which involves allegations linked to First Lady Kim Keon-hee.

In response to a related question from Democratic Party member Kim Ui-gyeom, he said that the investigative directive by former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae, which prevented then-Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl from directing investigations related to his family, is still valid, and he has no information on the matter.

He added, "I do not understand why the former Prosecutor General, in consultation with the former Minister of Justice, did not exercise investigative authority and why the Central District Prosecutor's Office chief announced that they would neither report to nor take direction from the Prosecutor General."

Candidate Lee stated, "The exclusion of investigative authority was an evasive investigative directive related to the interests of a specific Prosecutor General. If entrusted with the role, I believe I must exercise investigative authority. Although there are procedural concerns, I must declare the restoration of investigative authority."

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