Lee Pushes Back Against Yoo Si-min's Criticism: "Prosecution Reform Is Already Complete"

[Financial News] President Lee Jae Myung pushed back on writer Yoo Si-min, who criticized his prosecution reform plan as "what the president has deceived the people about until now," saying, "The separation of investigations and indictments, the essence of prosecution reform, has now been completed to the point that even supplementary investigative authority is prohibited." Yoo had argued that the plan to establish separate bodies for investigations and indictments within the Ministry of Justice differed from the Democratic Party's position and the president's pledge.
President Lee wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that "most advocates of prosecution reform, including the Rebuilding Korea Party, called for establishing the Serious Crime Investigation Agency in the Ministry of Justice to handle investigations and the Public Prosecution Office to handle indictments," adding, "along with calls to grant the Public Prosecution Office supplementary investigative authority."
In the video cited by President Lee, writer Yoo criticized Lee's statement that establishing separate bodies for investigations and indictments within the Ministry of Justice represented the fullest extent of prosecution reform. Yoo appeared on Media Today's YouTube channel on the 22nd of last month and claimed that he had never heard of such a plan and that the president should have explained it earlier.
In response, President Lee emphasized that even the ministries overseeing the Serious Crime Investigation Agency and the Public Prosecution Office had been separated. He added, "In this process, the demand to strip supplementary investigative authority, which changed their position, was also carried through," and stated, "The separation of investigations and indictments, the essence of prosecution reform, has now been completed to the point that even supplementary investigative authority is prohibited."
He also addressed concerns over the expansion of investigative agencies' powers. President Lee said, "The public is deeply concerned about the police and the Serious Crime Investigation Agency abusing their investigative powers, burying cases, or distorting them," but emphasized, "We will definitely dispel public concerns through institutional improvements," including stronger internal controls and inspections and reviews of referred cases.
Earlier that morning, President Lee had also posted a message rebutting criticism of the prosecution reform process. He shared a post containing a video by Woo Sang-ho, governor of Gangwon Province, countering claims that the government had delayed prosecution reform, and said, "Prosecution reform is being pursued for the people, not to create the political legacies of specific individuals."
He added, "It is even more wrong to belittle the efforts of others as useless or even an obstacle in an attempt to claim sole credit for achievements created through everyone's combined efforts."
President Lee wrote, "The government did not drag its feet. In accordance with the agreement between the government and the ruling party, it swiftly and thoroughly achieved not only the complete separation of investigations and indictments, but also the separation of the responsible ministries—going beyond what many people initially envisioned (not me)."
He also stated, "In all public duties, including state affairs, the most important thing is to distinguish public matters from private interests and abandon personal motives," adding, "I believe this will not happen, but under no circumstances should anyone use prosecution reform as a pretext to manipulate personnel appointments or specific investigative and prosecutorial work for personal reasons."
[email protected] Reporter Seong Seok-woo Reporter