Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok: "Sufficient Material and Human Evidence on Lee Jae-myung, Written Documents and Records Already Secured"

"Investigation Not Targeting Opposition Leader but Corruption Probe During Basic Local Government Head Tenure"
"Deutsche Motors Case Investigation to Follow General Principles and Standards"

Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok. / Photo by Younghan Heo younghan@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] On the 16th, Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok stated that sufficient evidence has already been secured to prove the charges against Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, for whom an arrest warrant has been requested.

Prosecutor General Lee made this statement to the waiting press on his way home that afternoon.

When asked, "Please say a few words about the background of today's request for an arrest warrant for Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party," he said, "The Daejang-dong development project and the Wirye New Town development project involve illegal collusion between local governments and real estate developers," adding, "It is a very serious local corruption case where astronomical development profits that should have gone to local residents and local governments were instead divided among real estate developers and brokers. Therefore, requesting an arrest warrant was unavoidable."

In response to the question, "There are talks that, given the current structure of the National Assembly seats, the motion to consent to arrest is likely to be rejected, so it may be pointless," he replied, "The prosecution does its job, and the National Assembly does its own. The prosecution cannot stop its work based on predictions of what procedures will proceed in the National Assembly. The prosecution simply carries out its duties calmly."

When asked, "Considering that he is currently the opposition party leader, should there be concerns about evidence destruction or flight risk?" he said, "There can be no separate standards for a specific individual regarding the criteria for requesting an arrest warrant. We followed the general and universal standards applied to all citizens in this case as well."

When asked about criticism that the arrest warrant request document mentioned 'because he is the opposition party leader, he has influence,' he responded, "We are not investigating or requesting an arrest warrant based on the political activities of the opposition party leader," adding, "We are only investigating and requesting an arrest warrant for various economic and public office-related corruption that occurred when he was a basic local government head."

Prosecutor General Lee expressed strong confidence in proving the charges.

In response to the question, "There have been criticisms that only testimonial evidence exists so far; do you believe the charges have been well proven?" he said, "The project lasted a long time and involved many people," adding, "Therefore, sufficient physical evidence, personal evidence, written and documentary evidence have already been secured."

He continued, "Otherwise, as you said, we would not be able to request an arrest warrant for the opposition party leader," emphasizing once again, "A lot of sufficient evidence has already been gathered."

Finally, when asked about the investigation into the Deutsche Motors case involving Kim Geon-hee, wife of President Yoon Seok-youl, he said it is difficult to give a specific answer because the prosecutorial authority over investigations was removed from the Prosecutor General during the previous administration, but he emphasized investigation according to principles.

When asked, "There are talks about the necessity of investigation into the Deutsche Motors case; what do you think?" he replied, "The Deutsche Motors case is a situation where the Minister of Justice in the previous government stripped the Prosecutor General of investigative authority. Therefore, I cannot speak specifically or individually," but added, "However, in all cases, the general standards and principles applied to all citizens will definitely be followed. I believe the Central District Prosecutors' Office investigation team will conduct the investigation and handle the case faithfully based on those principles."

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