President Lee: "Law Enforcement Agencies Disrupting National Order... Must Be Strictly Held Accountable"

President Lee Presides Over Senior Aides Meeting on the 23rd
"Disciplinary Breaches That Destroy Democracy and the Rule of Law"

On October 23, President Lee Jaemyung addressed law enforcement agencies, stating, "They are disturbing national order and pursuing private interests by abusing public authority to fabricate cases," and urged, "We must thoroughly uncover the truth and deal with these matters strictly in accordance with the law and principles, holding those responsible accountable."

Presiding over a meeting with senior secretaries and aides at the Yongsan presidential office that day, President Lee said, "During the recent National Assembly audit, there have been ongoing criticisms regarding issues within law enforcement agencies." His remarks are interpreted as referring to suspicions surrounding Um Heejun, then chief prosecutor at the Bucheon branch (now a prosecutor at the Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office), who is accused of exerting external pressure during the investigation into the severance pay case of a Coupang daily worker, as well as the so-called "salmon drinking party" allegations involving Park Sangyong, then a prosecutor at the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office (now a professor at the Legal Training Institute), who was in charge of the case of Lee Hwayoung, former Vice Governor for Peace of Gyeonggi Province.

Yonhap News Agency

President Lee pointed out, "Public officials in law enforcement agencies, who more than anyone else should be fair and impartial, are using the public authority entrusted to them to maintain order and uphold social discipline to cover up clear illegalities, or to fabricate and create non-existent cases, thereby disturbing national order and pursuing private interests."

He further instructed, "Such behavior by law enforcement agencies is an intolerable breach of discipline that destroys democracy and the rule of law. We must thoroughly uncover the truth and deal with these wrongdoings strictly in accordance with the law and principles, holding those responsible accountable."

President Lee also reiterated the importance of discipline among public officials. He said, "The authority of all public officials, not just those in law enforcement agencies, comes from the people, who are the sovereign. It must be exercised solely for the people, and fairly, under their control and supervision."

He emphasized again, "In particular, the public authority of law enforcement officials responsible for maintaining order is the last bastion, like salt preserving social order. Using the authority granted to maintain social order to disturb that order for specific private interests must never be tolerated."

President Lee concluded by urging, "From this moment forward, I ask that there be absolutely no abuse of public authority, nor any use of public authority to create victims or disturb social order."

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