Lee warns against 'irresponsible extremism' jeopardizing reforms

President Lee Jae Myung on Wednesday warned against "irresponsible extremism" that he said is demanding excessive reform, insisting such extremism may jeopardize effective reforms.

Lee made the remarks on the social platform X in response to a user demanding he apologize for describing his critics as "irresponsible extremists."

"There are those who sincerely call for prosecution reform for the country and the people, but there are also those who, in reality, hinder prosecution reform by only calling for clarity or making excessive, inflammatory demands for their hidden political and personal agendas," the president wrote.

"Calling for 'all-or-nothing' approaches as if they are the only true leader of reform and attacking those who are genuinely seeking reform while inciting fears of failure to take advantage of the urgent desire of some people to reform is irresponsible extremism," he added.

Lee's message was widely seen as targeting hard-liners within his ruling Democratic Party who accused Lee of backtracking on prosecution reform, the party's longstanding agenda.

Lee earlier called for allowing prosecutors to retain the right to conduct supplementary investigations in exceptional cases, but the reform bill legislated by the ruling party that recently went into effect completely stripped the prosecution of all investigative power, leaving only the authority to indict and maintain indictments.

Yonhap