Second special prosecutor nominee from Democratic Party under fire for defending ex-chairman Kim Sung-tae; pro-Lee faction asks, "Are they out of their minds?"

Financial News reported that after President Lee Jae-myung appointed as the ruling party’s second comprehensive special prosecutor the candidate put forward by the Rebuilding Korea Party, criticism of the Democratic Party leadership surged on the 8th. Supreme Council member Lee Seong-yoon, a key figure in the pro-Jeong Cheong-rae faction who led the recommendation of special prosecutor candidates, apologized, saying, "I take full responsibility." The backlash erupted after it emerged that attorney Jeon Jun-cheol, nominated for the ruling party’s share of special prosecutors, had previously served on the defense team for former Ssangbangwool chairman Kim Sung-tae when prosecutors were investigating President Lee over alleged remittances to North Korea.
Posting on his social networking service (SNS) account the same day, Lee wrote, "I was asked to recommend candidates for the second comprehensive special prosecutor, so I put forward two candidates with backgrounds in the prosecution service and the courts, and one of them was attorney Jeon." He added, "Attorney Jeon is a principled and capable former prosecutor who was persecuted by the Yoon Suk Yeol administration because he worked closely with me on investigations into the Kim Kun-hee stock manipulation case and the Han Dong-hoon–Channel A case."
While serving as a prosecutor, Jeon was regarded as part of the so-called "Lee Seong-yoon line." When Lee was Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, Jeon was appointed to a key post. Less than a year after being promoted to head of Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, he resigned in May 2021 and later joined the defense team in the case involving former chairman Kim’s alleged remittances to North Korea.
Lee also posted Jeon’s written statement on his SNS. In it, Jeon said, "The case in question was taken on by the law firm I belonged to, and at the firm’s request I briefly participated in the defense, but I only handled issues related to individual employees’ embezzlement and breach of trust." He stressed, "I had nothing whatsoever to do with the remittances to North Korea."
He went on to explain, "At the time, our arguments to the prosecution were not accepted at all, and there were also uncomfortable circumstances, so I withdrew from the case midway and did not take part in the defense thereafter."
Meanwhile, according to political sources, President Lee is said to have expressed displeasure that the Democratic Party recommended Jeon, who had worked on the former chairman’s case, as a special prosecutor candidate. One key reason cited was that Kim allegedly gave false testimony during the investigation and trial that was unfavorable to President Lee.
The presidential office cautioned against reading too much into the president’s thinking, stating, "We do not believe it is appropriate to attach political interpretations or special meaning to this."
Even so, criticism inside the Democratic Party is mounting against Supreme Council member Lee and the leadership for recommending Jeon as a special prosecutor candidate. Lee Geon-tae, a Democratic Party lawmaker who previously served as President Lee’s defense attorney, held a press conference at the National Assembly that day calling on Lee Seong-yoon to step down.
Pro-Lee Jae-myung lawmaker Park Hong-keun wrote on his SNS the previous day, "If it is true that the Democratic Party leadership has put forward, as a candidate for the second special prosecutor in front of President Lee, a former prosecutor-turned-lawyer who took part in the campaign to 'bring down Lee Jae-myung,' then are they out of their minds?"
gowell@fnnews.com Kim Hyeong-gu Reporter