Oh Se-hoon: “Does the special counsel on fabricated indictments dream of absolute monarchy? The Lee Jae Myung administration will face the people’s judgment.”

[Financial News] With passage of the bill for a special counsel investigation into fabricated indictments through the National Assembly plenary session now imminent, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon criticized the bill on the 6th, calling it “the culmination of the privatization of the judicial system for President Lee Jae Myung.” He added, “If they ultimately turn a blind eye to the people’s anger and are not afraid of public scrutiny, all that remains is the people’s stern judgment of the Lee Jae Myung administration.”
Oh said on social media (SNS) that day, “Does President Lee dream of absolute monarchy like that of the Joseon dynasty?”
Oh said, “The Democrats are pushing ahead with the special counsel bill on fabricated indictments to the end,” and criticized them, adding, “Housing prices, jeonse deposits and monthly rents are soaring, and people are struggling to make ends meet day by day, yet people’s livelihoods are nowhere on the ruling party’s mind. I cannot help but lament the fact that it is pouring all its resources into eliminating the president’s trial-related risks.”
He continued, “The Democrats insist there is no problem because they removed the provision on withdrawing indictments, but the structure remains unchanged: the president himself is a party to the case being investigated, and the president himself appoints the special counsel.” He said, “They are inviting suspicion that they intend to use the special counsel’s findings as grounds to overturn the existing indictments and trials against the president.”
Oh said, “It is no different from a ‘judicial defense apparatus exclusively for the president,’ dressed up in the name of a special counsel,” and claimed, “An estimated 30 billion won in taxpayers’ money will be spent on this, with more than 300 personnel mobilized to conduct an investigation for up to 200 days.”
He went on to say, “This is an abuse of power with few precedents: even the national budget and investigative personnel are to be deployed to defend the president’s personal legal risks.” He noted, “The fact that this is happening openly in the Republic of Korea today is leaving people feeling dismay beyond anger.”
Oh said, “Even in the dynastic state of Joseon, there was a system known as the Three Offices (Samsa)—the Saganwon, Saheonbu and Hongmungwan—to check royal authority. Even in an era when the king’s power was immense, institutional safeguards were in place to prevent abuses of power.” He asked, “If, in a 21st-century democratic republic where the people are sovereign, they seek to make laws for one president, mobilize investigative agencies and even undermine the judiciary’s decisions, then what era’s rule are they trying to impose?”
He then urged, “If the Democrats use their overwhelming majority to turn even the special counsel into a shield to protect President Lee Jae Myung, this will be recorded as an indelible stain on constitutional history and the worst anti-democratic outrage. I issue a strong warning to the Democrats: Stop immediately this lawless rampage to upend the Republic of Korea’s judicial system, trample the rule of law and turn back the course of democratic history just to protect one person—the president.”

[email protected] Lee Hae-ram Reporter