Acting Prosecutor General Names Yoon Suk-yeol as No. 1 Bad Influence on Prosecution, Han Dong-hoon as No. 2, in Assembly Audit Testimony

Lee Jeong-hyun, acting prosecutor general (chief prosecutor of the Criminal Affairs Bureau), on Tuesday named former President Yoon Suk-yeol first and independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon second as figures who had a negative influence on the prosecution, during a National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee audit. His response came when Rep. Park Eun-jung of the Rebuilding Korea Party asked whether "prosecutor Han Dong-hoon was the greatest contributor to prosecution reform." Lee also said he shared a similar view to that of Kim Ji-yong, head of the Central Investigation Department, who at a confirmation hearing on Oct. 14 identified former President Yoon as "the No. 1 political prosecutor."

In response to a question from Seo Yeong-gyo, the committee chair from the Democratic Party, Lee said, "I still remember then Prosecutor General Yoon Suk-yeol saying, in effect, that ambiguous cases where suspects show no remorse or confession should be indicted so they face three or five years of trials, making them suffer physically, economically and psychologically." He added, "I believe various cases unfolded and kangaroo investigations were carried out as an extension of that." He also stressed that, as he indicated earlier before the special committee on state affairs investigations, he would reflect with deep introspection and remain vigilant so that such things never happen again.

Asked by Rep. Son Sol of the Progressive Party whether he felt the kangaroo investigations were wrong, Lee confessed, "The moment I heard such things back then, I felt a great deal of shame as a prosecutor." Lee had served as head of the Public Investigation Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office (now the Criminal Affairs Bureau) in 2021, when former President Yoon was prosecutor general.