President Lee Won-seok: "Prosecutor impeachment is unconstitutional and illegal"... "Means to directly try Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party"

Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok is making a statement on the Democratic Party's impeachment motion against prosecutors at the press room of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 2nd. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok strongly condemned the Democratic Party of Korea's proposal on the 2nd to impeach four prosecutors who investigated the illegal North Korea remittance case and the Han Myeong-sook Prime Minister case, calling it an "impeachment motion that violates the Constitution and laws."

Lee said, "The Democratic Party's impeachment of prosecutors is like moving the court from the judiciary to the National Assembly, with Representative Lee Jae-myung acting as the judge and Democratic Party members and the party itself directly retrying the case," emphasizing, "It is not just unfair but an unconstitutional and illegal impeachment, a bulletproof impeachment, a retaliatory impeachment, and an obstruction of justice impeachment that directly contradicts the Constitution and laws."

On the afternoon of the same day, Lee visited the press room at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul, to express his position on the Democratic Party's push for the impeachment of prosecutors.

The Democratic Party proposed impeachment motions against four prosecutors: Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kang Baek-shin of the Seongnam Branch of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-cheol of the Northern Seoul District Prosecutors' Office, Deputy Chief Prosecutor Park Sang-yong of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, and Chief Prosecutor Eom Hee-jun of Bucheon Branch, who were involved in the investigation or trial of the illegal North Korea remittance case, the Han Myeong-sook Prime Minister political funds law violation case, the state power abuse case, and the presidential election public opinion manipulation case.

Lee said, "If I were to define the Democratic Party's impeachment of prosecutors in one sentence, it is 'to impeach prosecutors who investigate and try the power holder named Representative Lee Jae-myung, preventing them from conducting investigations and trials, thereby allowing the power holder to evade criminal punishment,'" adding, "If the impeachment of prosecutors becomes a reality solely because they investigated a power holder without any grounds for impeachment, we will fall into the abyss of barbarism in a civilized society."

He stated, "The Democratic Party targets prosecutors who handled investigations and trials related to illegal North Korea remittances, preferential development corruption in Daejang-dong, Baekhyeon-dong, and Wirye, and perjury coaching related to Representative Lee Jae-myung, openly declaring their intention to summon those prosecutors and related parties to the National Assembly for investigation," adding, "They are moving the court from the judiciary to the National Assembly for cases already indicted and with first-instance rulings or ongoing trials, with the defendant Representative Lee Jae-myung acting as the judge, Democratic Party lawmakers as his defense attorneys, and the Democratic Party, the absolute majority in the National Assembly, usurping the judiciary's role to retry the cases directly."

Lee defined the Democratic Party's push for impeachment as unconstitutional impeachment, illegal impeachment, obstruction of justice impeachment, retaliatory impeachment, and bulletproof impeachment.

He said, "First, this impeachment is an unconstitutional impeachment that violates the Constitution," explaining, "The Democratic Party and the National Assembly are attempting to usurp the judiciary's role of adjudication and conduct trials themselves, violating Article 101 of the Constitution, which states 'Judicial power shall be vested in courts composed of judges,' directly opposing the constitutional separation of powers and the rule of law, and completely undermining the independence of the judiciary and judges."

Lee continued, "Second, it is an illegal impeachment that violates laws," pointing out, "Article 8 of the Act on the Inspection and Investigation of State Affairs (Limits of Inspection or Investigation) clearly states that 'The inspection or investigation by the National Assembly shall not be exercised for the purpose of intervening in ongoing trials or investigations,' clarifying the essential limits of the National Assembly's authority and the separation of powers, so the Democratic Party's impeachment push is an illegal impeachment that directly contradicts the Constitution and laws."

He added, "Third, it is an obstruction of justice impeachment," noting, "Before the Constitutional Court's impeachment trial, the mere resolution of impeachment by the Democratic Party, the absolute majority party, results in the suspension of the prosecutors' duties and their exclusion from investigations and trials related to Representative Lee Jae-myung."

He further said, "Moreover, the Democratic Party intimidates prosecutors and exerts external pressure on courts and judges by saying things like 'We cannot recognize the judiciary itself. Judges should be elected. The prosecution and courts are connected by a chain of malice. We must find ways to expel the judiciary,' continuously attempting to undermine the foundation of the criminal justice system, which is fair investigation and trial."

Lee said, "Fourth, it is a retaliatory impeachment," explaining, "They target prosecutors who investigated Representative Lee Jae-myung, mark them, attack them, suspend their duties, summon them to the National Assembly to defame them, and make them subjects of impeachment lawsuits, aiming to break the will to investigate the power holder and make them withdraw, and also to intimidate other prosecutors by setting an example."

Finally, Lee said, "Fifth, ultimately, it is a bulletproof impeachment to protect Representative Lee Jae-myung," adding, "Our people are well aware that the Democratic Party's impeachment attempt ignores the judicial system that determines guilt or innocence in court and tries to drag the case outside the courtroom to help Representative Lee Jae-myung evade criminal punishment. Furthermore, it aims to completely destroy the judicial system to fundamentally erase criminal punishment against Representative Lee Jae-myung as a bulletproof measure."

Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok is making a statement on the Democratic Party's impeachment motion against prosecutors at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office press room in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the 2nd. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

Lee said, "The Democratic Party's impeachment of prosecutors destroys the Constitution and the rule of law that our people have painstakingly protected and collapses the common sense of the community," adding, "If the Constitution stipulates that members of the National Assembly are also subject to impeachment, then attempting to abuse authority and violate the Constitution and laws through impeachment itself precisely constitutes grounds for impeachment."

At the end of his statement, Lee quoted a phrase from Laozi's Tao Te Ching, "Cheonmanghoehwe soibullu (天網恢恢 疎而不漏)."

He said, "The net of heaven is vast and wide, seemingly sparse but never missing anything," adding, "Even if prosecutors are impeached, the existing crimes will not disappear or diminish."

He continued, "The prosecution will never yield to the external pressure from the absolute majority party in the National Assembly, uphold the rule of law, and conduct investigations and trials solely based on evidence and legal principles to ensure that punishments commensurate with crimes are carried out."

Meanwhile, after his statement, when asked, "What impact do you think the Democratic Party's impeachment proposal will have on the investigation?" Lee responded, "I believe almost no one thinks that the impeachment motions against the four prosecutors proposed today will be approved by the Constitutional Court through impeachment trials," adding, "If the prosecutors are suspended from their duties due to the impeachment motions being approved and cannot conduct investigations or trials, I will send prosecutors from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office standing behind me to ensure that their work is not disrupted."

He added, "I consider that my mission. I believe that punishments commensurate with crimes must be carried out."

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