Former Prosecutor General Lee Wonseok: "No External Pressure in Daejang-dong, North Korea Remittance Cases... Never Met Yoon Even Once"

Former Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok stated that he had never faced external pressure from former President Yoon Suk-yeol in relation to the Daejang-dong and North Korea remittance investigations.

On the 16th, at the 8th plenary meeting of the National Assembly's Special Committee on Fact-Finding for the Political Prosecutor Manipulation and Indictment Allegations under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, former Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok appeared as a witness during the hearing on the Daejang-dong, former Democrat Research Institute Deputy Director Kim Yong, and Wirye New Town manipulation indictment allegations. On the right is Prosecutor Eom Hee-jun, who led the 'Daejang-dong Phase 2 Investigation Team.' April 16, 2026. Photo by Hyunmin Kim.

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On April 16, Lee appeared at the National Assembly's "Special Committee for the Investigation of the Truth Behind the Political Prosecution Manipulation Indictment Allegations under the Yoon Suk-yeol Administration" and said, "Since I was appointed as Prosecutor General, I have not met, called, texted, or messaged then-President Yoon Suk-yeol even once." He added, "This case originated under the Moon Jae-in administration and was handed over to us as a pending case; we did not initiate a new investigation."

Lee continued, "Even when I served as Prosecutor General, I had trust in the prosecution. I do not even know how to install Telegram," and added, "You may not believe this, but during my term, I never met then-Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon, nor have I met him after leaving office."

He went on to say, "Whenever anything is said about us, we are labeled as an insurrectionist group," and emphasized, "We are also firmly opposed to martial law and insurrection, and we believe it is wrong."

Lee criticized both the "decision not to appeal the Daejang-dong case" and the "order to audit the prosecutors investigating the Daejang-dong case." He said, "By giving up the appeal, the Daejang-dong group does not receive increased sentences, nor are their criminal proceeds confiscated. In the appeals trial, the original investigators could not be directly involved, making it difficult to maintain the prosecution's case," and pointed out, "There is nothing that benefits the Daejang-dong group more than this."

He went on, "When controversy arose at the time of the decision not to appeal, Minister of Justice Jeong Seong-ho claimed that the investigation and trial of the Daejang-dong case were successful." He continued, "Yet, just a few months later, the investigation and trial, which had been declared a success, were overturned to the extent that, at the request of the Democratic Party, an audit was ordered for nine prosecutors who investigated the Daejang-dong case."

Lee also criticized the parliamentary investigation, saying, "I believe it is in violation of the Constitution and the law." He added, "A few days ago, I saw a call for the Supreme Court to deliver a not-guilty verdict for Deputy Director Kim Yong," and said, "To dispute the testimonies of National Intelligence Service Director Lee Jong-seok and former SBW Vice Chairman Bang Yong-cheol over the same testimony should be a matter of assessing the credibility of evidence in court, not something to be done in the National Assembly."

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