President Lee Jae-myung has nominated Kim Seung-won, a member of the Democratic Party representing Suwon Gap, as the new Minister of Justice. A re-elected lawmaker and former judge, Kim is known for his strong advocacy for prosecutorial reform. However, this reputation is overshadowed by his role as co-chair of a group pushing for the cancellation of indictments against President Lee. The potential impact of such cancellations is significant, as it has been cited as a reason for the resignation of former Minister of Justice Jeong Seong-ho. Although Jeong denied the allegations until his last day in office, many do not take his claims at face value. The issue of indictment cancellation has become a 'black hole' threatening to engulf all Justice Ministers under the Lee administration.
As the gravitational pull of indictment cancellation intensifies, the push for 'prosecutorial and judicial reform' by both Kim and the Lee administration is likely to face increasing resistance. If the president's unresolved criminal cases are dismissed under the guise of reform, the principle of 'political independence of the criminal justice system' will suffer a severe blow.
Therefore, if the leader of the indictment cancellation group becomes the Minister of Justice, his primary responsibility should not be to erase the president's trial but to separate the Ministry of Justice from the president's legal issues. Kim must clarify his commitment to distinguishing prosecutorial and judicial reform from the personal judicial risks faced by President Lee during his confirmation hearings. A definitive step would be for Kim to propose that President Lee state, 'I will faithfully undergo any trials that are suspended during my presidency after leaving office.'
Additionally, the indiscriminate personnel changes and disciplinary actions against prosecutors involved in cases related to President Lee must be revoked. The Ministry of Justice demoted Prosecutor Jeong Yu-mi, who criticized the decision to abandon the appeal in the Daejang-dong development preferential treatment case, to a lower rank. However, on June 11, the court ruled that this was an 'extremely unusual personnel decision' that constituted an abuse of discretion, leading to its cancellation. The court recognized the action as 'political personnel,' but the Ministry of Justice has appealed the ruling.
In the investigation of the North Korean remittance case involving President Lee, Prosecutor Park Sang-yong faced what was described as an 'Indian rain dance' style of inspection. However, in a key matter concerning the 'salmon liquor party,' the former Vice Governor of Gyeonggi Province, Lee Hwa-young, was sentenced to four months in prison for perjury, while Prosecutor Park was cleared of wrongdoing by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's inspection committee.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Justice has sought disciplinary action against prosecutors from the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office who collectively left the courtroom during the trial of Lee Hwa-young. This case drew attention as President Lee himself mentioned the need for disciplinary measures. Although the Supreme Prosecutors' Office later cleared the prosecutors of wrongdoing, the Ministry of Justice reopened the inspection committee to impose sanctions. In response, Prosecutor Gong Bong-sook criticized on August 15 via the internal network (Epros) that 'if Lee Hwa-young is acquitted, it will benefit the president, and everyone knows that the prosecutors were doing their best to maintain the indictment, ultimately leading to a request for the disqualification of the trial judges.'
On August 30, Kim stated on social media, 'I will fulfill my responsibilities for the success of the Lee Jae-myung administration.' He added, 'South Korea is on the brink of a major transformation in its criminal justice system that has lasted for 70 years,' and pledged to do his utmost to ensure that the new system is trusted and stabilizes based on his experiences. However, all eyes remain on the issue of 'indictment cancellation.' There is hope that Kim's vision for the success of the Lee administration does not hinge on the cancellation of indictments related to the president's cases.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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