Special Counsel Seeks 5-Year Prison Term for Yoon over Alleged Aiding Lee Jong-sup's Flight

Special Counsel Seeks 5-Year Prison Term for Yoon over Alleged Aiding Lee Jong-sup's Flight

On the 24th, during President Yoon Suk Yeol’s trial presided over by the 22nd Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court, the special counsel sought a five-year prison sentence. The special counsel applied charges alleging that President Yoon appointed former Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup, who was under investigation by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Public Officials (CIO), as Ambassador to Australia to aid his flight. The core background lies in allegations of external pressure on the investigation into the death of Corporal Chae. President Yoon, who attended the trial, maintained an uncooperative stance, making remarks mentioning threats to his personal safety directed at the special counsel team.

Criticism has been consistently raised that existing judicial mechanisms, including the prosecution and the CIO, failed to fulfill their proper roles leading up to the sentencing hearing. Controversies over the erosion of political neutrality overlapped during the investigation into power corruption and allegations of Ministry of Defense interference. Ultimately, the special counsel—secured for its objectivity and independence—appears to have served as an essential institutional device to straighten out judicial justice.

Political Confrontation over Special Counsel Bills and Election Commission Probe

Beyond the special counsel for the Corporal Chae case, the introduction of a statutory special counsel is facing significant hurdles. The opposition, led by the Democratic Party, is strongly calling for a “people’s special counsel” to severely punish the ballot shortage fiasco at the National Election Commission (NEC). However, the People Power Party (PPP) has confirmed a strategy to counter this by utilizing a filibuster—unlimited debate—to cause massive delays should the related special counsel bill be put to a plenary vote.

PPP Floor Leader Jung Jin-seok announced an all-out struggle to block the processing of the Democratic Party’s bill to abolish the prosecution’s supplementary investigation authority. PPP leader Cho Dong-young, attending a rally in front of the Hyundai Department Store in Daegu on the 25th, urged for a full-scale struggle to launch a special counsel, stating that neither the court nor the Joint Investigation Headquarters can be trusted. As such, the simultaneous handling of the NEC special counsel and the Corporal Chae special counsel is escalating into an intense political conflict sufficient to paralyze the National Assembly schedule.

Judicial Upheaval from Abolition of Supplementary Investigation Rights and Resurrection of Full Case Transfer

As former Rebuilding Korea Party leader Cho Kuk and Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Nam-hee publicly exchanged views on the Criminal Procedure Code revision, the restructuring of investigation and prosecution powers has emerged as another key legislative issue. The core of the revision is the resurrection of the “full case transfer” system, where the prosecution takes over and indicts cases even if the police investigation is not fully concluded. Simultaneously, it contains a clear intention to completely abolish the prosecution’s current supplementary investigation rights to rebalance authority between investigative agencies.

If this bill passes, the fundamental basis of the national investigation system will be completely overturned. Strengthening the police’s independent authority to conclude investigations would fundamentally limit the prosecution’s excessive power. However, the conservative camp’s counterargument that the process ensuring investigation reliability and fairness could become formalized is also significant. While the ruling party believes passing the bill can block the potential for prosecution abuse of power, the PPP strongly criticizes that it would severely weaken investigative capabilities for major crimes, posing a serious threat to public safety and social order.

National Assembly Legislative Schedule and Future Political/Social Implications

Due to sharp differences between the ruling and opposition parties, the passage of major bills is likely to be postponed to the regular National Assembly session in September. It is becoming difficult for the political sphere to avoid criticism that it is preoccupied with political power scandals and investigative agency reorganization, while putting aside livelihood legislation such as the integrated pension reform plan—merging public and basic pensions—and the policy to convert non-regular educational staff to regular positions for the normalization of public education.

The resurrection of full case transfer, the abolition of supplementary investigation rights, and the passage of the two major special counsel bills are set to dominate the political schedule for the next several months. These bills, which alter the fundamental structure of the judicial system, push the confrontation to the limit while promising to completely redesign the future administrative structure and personnel operations of the prosecution and police depending on the vote results. The schedule for the plenary vote on the special counsel bill and investigative power adjustment legislation is expected to be determined ultimately by the possibility of agreement between the floor negotiation groups and the rapidly shifting political landscape following the martial law incident.

To achieve the macroscopic goals of realizing judicial justice and checking power agencies, systematic legislative design to redefine the roles of the special counsel, police, and prosecution is essential. Rather than the exercise of unilateral force, procedural legitimacy through garnering national consensus is required.