Acting Prosecutor General Lee Jung-hyun: Yoon said to indict suspects who showed no remorse and make them stand trial for 3–5 years

[Financial News] Lee Jung-hyun, acting Prosecutor General (head of the Public Prosecution Office), said he had heard remarks to the effect that, during Yoon Suk Yeol’s tenure as Prosecutor General, suspects who did not confess should be indicted, made to stand trial for an extended period and made to suffer.
Lee, the acting Prosecutor General, gave this answer on the 22nd at the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee’s audit of the Public Prosecution Office, in response to a question from committee chair Seo Young-kyo, who asked for his view on the prosecution’s targeted investigations under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration.
He said, “I served under former Prosecutor General Yoon Suk Yeol in 2020–2021, and one remark has stayed with me. I remember the Prosecutor General saying that ambiguous cases in which suspects showed no remorse or refused to confess should be prosecuted, and that the suspects should be made to stand trial for three to five years and made to suffer materially, financially and psychologically.”
He added, “I think several of the cases that were highlighted arose as part of that same pattern, and that investigations resembling fishing expeditions were conducted. I also spoke before the special committee on the parliamentary investigation about regretting those matters. Today, too, I will reflect deeply and, through painful self-examination, take care to ensure that such things never happen again.”
The acting Prosecutor General also took a critical stance that day on the indictment on bribery charges related to the salary received by former President Moon Jae-in’s former son-in-law.
When Lee Sung-yoon, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea, asked whether the investigation into former President Moon’s case was “a normal investigation,” he replied, “I think it was an investigation that strips the flesh from the bone.” That amounted to saying the investigation had been somewhat excessive.
He added, “I think reform and innovation may be possible only if we reflect on and repent for wrongful investigative practices and offer a profound apology.”
 
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