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Lee proposes public debate on prosecutorial reform amid growing tensions

Published: 29 Aug. 2025, 21:06

President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Yongsan, central Seoul on Aug. 29. [YONHAP]

President Lee Jae Myung on Friday proposed a public debate on prosecutorial reform, signaling he may preside over the discussion himself.

“Rather than issuing orders or attaching labels, it is better to present the most rational and reasonable alternatives,” Lee said during a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Yongsan, according to spokesperson Kang Yu-jung.

Kang told reporters that Lee suggested “opening the process entirely to gather everyone’s opinions and working together to fill in the gaps through a cooperative debate.” She said the president emphasized the need to address fundamental issues, including preventing abuses of concentrated investigative authority.

Lee’s proposal followed disputes between the government and the ruling party over reform plans. Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho warned that placing the Serious Crime Investigation Agency, the police and the National Office of Investigation under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety would consolidate too much power in a single body.

Rep. Min Hyung-bae of the Democratic Party (DP), who chairs the party’s prosecutorial reform committee, accused Jung of “going too far.” The minister later softened his remarks, saying legislative authority “rests with the party, not the government.”

Analysts said Lee’s call for an open debate reflects his view that reform cannot advance without consensus within the ruling camp.

Minister of Justice Jung Sung-ho answers questions from lawmakers during a National Assembly session at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul on Aug. 26. [NEWS1]

The controversy deepened Friday when Lim Eun-jeong, chief prosecutor at the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office, issued rare public criticism of her superiors. Speaking at a civic forum hosted by the Candlelight Action group, she said, “Even the justice minister is under the prosecution’s control.”

She described Jung’s plan as little more than a scheme to “create more chief prosecutor positions,” and condemned the ministry’s first round of personnel appointments as “a disaster” carried out without a proper transition.

Lim Eun-jeong, chief prosecutor at the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office, far left, speaks during a forum on prosecutorial reform at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul on Aug. 29. [NEWS1]

Lim accused Vice Justice Minister Lee Jin-su, Prosecutor-General Seong Sang-heon, Acting Prosecutor General Noh Man-seok and Prosecution Policy Director Kim Soo-hong of being “pro-Yoon Suk Yeol prosecutors” who dominate the system. She branded them, along with Minister Jung, as the “five enemies of prosecutorial reform.”

Opposition lawmakers also attacked the Democratic Party’s approach.

“When you look at what the Democratic Party calls prosecutorial reform, it appears they are dismantling even functions that are essential for the prosecution,” said Rep. Chun Ha-ram, floor leader of the Reform Party, at a seminar in the National Assembly. “This is not reform of prosecutors, but a vendetta against the prosecution itself.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KANG BO-HYUN [[email protected]]