PPP demands Lee Yong-chul's nomination be withdrawn, calling it 'appointment aimed at dropping charges'

As President Lee Jae-myung named Lee Yong-chul, the current chief of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, as his nominee for justice minister on Sunday, the People Power Party demanded the withdrawal of the nomination, calling it an "appointment aimed at dropping criminal charges." Behind the party's criticism lies the 'special prosecutor bill on charge withdrawals' (the fabricated indictment special counsel bill), which the ruling party pushed through the National Assembly unilaterally. Rep. Joo Jin-woo said, "The nominee was named on the very day the special prosecutor bill on charge withdrawals was rammed through the Assembly."

PPP leader Jang Dong-hyuk wrote on Facebook that same day, "Round and round, the justice minister post ends up going to the 'Seongnam line,'" branding Lee as the "hidden architect" of the Daejang-dong scandal. He claimed, "Nominee Lee Yong-chul will take charge of the hidden design of dropping the charges." Floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik also pointed out via Facebook that Lee had served on then-Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung's transition committee and was a 'Seongnam line' figure who headed the Seongnam Industry Promotion Agency, a city-affiliated foundation. He noted that when Yoo Dong-kyu was appointed head of the planning bureau at the Seongnam Urban Development Corporation in 2010, Lee sat on the executive recommendation committee and gave Yoo high evaluation scores.

Senior spokesperson Park Chung-kwon said in a statement, "Handing the Justice Ministry to a close aide at the center of the suspicions amounts to putting a defendant in the Daejang-dong case in charge of the ministry," urging the withdrawal of the nomination and an end to attempts to drop the charges. Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo also argued, "If someone like this becomes justice minister, the Justice Ministry will degenerate into a 'Ministry of Charge Withdrawal.'"

Beyond demanding the nomination be withdrawn, the PPP is pressing the president to exercise his right to request reconsideration (veto), arguing that it is a conflict of interest for the president to appoint a special prosecutor investigating his own case. The party plans to hold meetings of its Supreme Council and all members of the National Assembly in front of the presidential office on Tuesday and Wednesday.