Lee Jae-myung, Will He Meet the Investigating Prosecutor in Court Again?… Prosecution Reviewing Direct Confrontation

Discussion on Deploying Investigation Team for Prosecution Maintenance
Possibility of Appointing Senior Prosecutors Including Eom Hee-jun
Collaboration in Investigation and Trial of Former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk

On the 7th, it was reported that the prosecution is considering deploying an investigation team to maintain the prosecution if Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is brought to trial on charges related to breach of trust in the Daejang-dong development project and the Seongnam FC case. The investigation team has been weighing whether to indict Lee while continuing supplementary investigations following the National Assembly's rejection of the arrest warrant for Lee on the 27th of last month.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Seongnam Branch, which are investigating the allegations surrounding Lee, are reportedly discussing assigning the prosecution maintenance to the investigating prosecutors, considering the case records and key issues. At the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Divisions 1 and 3 (Chief Prosecutors Eom Hee-jun and Kang Baek-shin) have been investigating the 'Wirye and Daejang-dong development corruption allegations,' while the Criminal Division 3 (Chief Prosecutor Yoo Min-jong) at the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Seongnam Branch has been handling the 'Seongnam FC sponsorship fund allegations.'

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is appearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Typically, in criminal cases, the roles are divided between the investigating prosecutor responsible up to the indictment stage and the trial prosecutor handling the court proceedings. However, in important cases, the investigating prosecutor directly handles the trial. During the trial, they operate as a 'team.' A legal insider said, "The Wirye and Daejang-dong allegations and the Seongnam FC allegations involve extensive investigation records, making it difficult for trial prosecutors to maintain the prosecution," adding, "Since there are many contentious issues, it is appropriate for the investigating prosecutors who understand the overall flow and context of the investigation to directly maintain the prosecution."

If the investigation team takes on direct prosecution maintenance, Chief Prosecutors Eom Hee-jun and Kang Baek-shin of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office are expected to appear in court and lead the trial team. Ko Hyung-gon, the 4th Deputy Chief Prosecutor overseeing the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, is expected to lead the trial team by devising trial strategies and reviewing briefs, even if he does not appear in court himself. All of them previously worked together during the investigation of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk's family, with Ko and Eom notably handling prosecution maintenance and securing convictions from the court.

At the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Seongnam Branch, Chief Prosecutor Yoo Min-jong is expected to appear in court directly. There is also a possibility that Deputy Chief Prosecutor Cho Sang-won may participate in the trial. Cho was dispatched to the special prosecutor team led by Park Young-soo investigating the state affairs manipulation scandal and personally interrogated former Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae during the judicial manipulation investigation. He later handled cases such as the Lime Asset Management and ShillaJen stock manipulation allegations, and is classified as a special prosecutor within the prosecution.

Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office building Photo by Yonhap News

All of them are included among the prosecutors listed in the Democratic Party's promotional material titled 'Eight Divisions (60 Prosecutors) of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and Suwon District Prosecutors' Office related to Lee Jae-myung's investigation.' The Democratic Party identified certain prosecutors, including Deputy Chief Prosecutor Ko, as the 'Yoon Seok-youl faction' and even disclosed their faces. This led to speculation in political circles that the Democratic Party, facing Lee's 'judicial risk' in earnest, might be effectively 'targeting' these prosecutors to pressure them among its ardent supporters.

Following the rejection of Lee's arrest warrant, the prosecution has been strengthening charges through concurrent investigations of related parties and legal reviews. The Anti-Corruption Investigation Divisions 1 and 3 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office are focusing on clarifying the so-called '42.8 billion won agreement' allegation, which claims that private developers agreed to give a portion of the Daejang-dong development profits to Lee's side in exchange for project favors, through high-intensity investigations and financial tracking targeting Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu.

This is a core allegation in the Daejang-dong case that was not specified as a criminal fact in Lee's warrant application. The prosecution is expected to decide soon whether to indict Lee based on the investigation results concerning Kim. Separately, the Criminal Division 3 at the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Seongnam Branch is reportedly refining legal theories by analyzing precedents related to third-party bribery cases.

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