Top prosecutor criticizes special treatment of first lady during questioning

Prosecutor General Lee One-seok on Monday publicly criticized the prosecution's methods in questioning first lady Kim Keon Hee about allegations made against her.

Prosecutor General Lee One-seok speaks to reporters on his way to work at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on Monday. [YONHAP]

Prosecutor General Lee One-seok on Monday publicly criticized the prosecution's methods in questioning first lady Kim Keon Hee about allegations made against her.

Lee, who said he had not been informed about Kim’s closed-door questioning beforehand, apologized to the public for not upholding the principle that there would be “no privilege before the law.

“I have repeatedly told the public that there are no exceptions, special treatment or sanctuaries before the law,” the prosecutor general told reporters on his way to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in Seocho District, southern Seoul. “However, this principle was not upheld, and we ultimately failed to keep our promise to the public.”

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said Sunday that they questioned the first lady privately for 12 hours the day before at a government building. The building turned out to be under the control of the Presidential Security Service in Changseong-dong, Jongno District, central Seoul. The building is under the jurisdiction of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office. The prosecutors cited “security and safety issues” for questioning the first lady at a location other than the prosecutors’ office.

Neither the prosecutor general nor the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office was notified about the questioning beforehand. Lee only became aware of the questioning 10 hours into it.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office explained that they did not initially report to Lee because they were investigating Kim’s alleged involvement in the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation case, in which the prosecutor general’s authority to command the investigation was restricted. Deutsch Motors is a BMW car dealer in Korea.

The prosecutor general has been restricted from leading the investigation of the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation case since October 2020 during the former Moon Jae-in government. The then-Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae restricted such rights because the case was related to President Yoon Suk Yeol, the prosecutor general at the time. The prosecutor general’s exclusion from the case has been maintained since then, preventing Lee from being informed about the case by the prosecution office.

On Saturday, Lee became aware of the questioning after the prosecutors reportedly notified him at around 11:30 p.m., after they were all set to question the first lady on her luxury handbag scandal. The overnight interrogation began at 1:30 p.m. and ended at around 1:20 a.m.

“I have promised the public to uphold constitutional principles,” Lee said. “I will do my best where I can, and if that is not enough, I will decide on my position.”

Lee took office as prosecutor general in September 2022. His two-year term expires in mid-September. The head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office, Lee Chang-soo, was reported to have apologized as he explained the questioning to the prosecutor general later in the day.

Saturday's questioning marked the first in-person interrogation on Kim’s alleged involvement in Deutsch Motors' stock manipulation since the case was filed in April 2020 and her luxury handbag scandal in December last year. It also marks the first time the prosecution questioned an incumbent first lady in person.

On Monday, the presidential office said the controversy was an internal matter of the prosecution, saying it was inappropriate for them to comment on cases still under investigation. A senior presidential official told reporters that it is an “excessive claim” to say that the questioning was special treatment, stressing that there has been no such case of an incumbent first lady being summoned for an investigation.

Political parties continued to clash on Monday over the prosecutors’ method of questioning the first lady. The liberal Democratic Party (DP) acting chief and floor leader, Park Chan-dae, criticized the prosecution during a supreme council meeting on Monday, asking if they existed for Yongsan. Park also urged hastening the special probe against Kim so that the allegations would be "strictly" investigated.

DP lawmakers at the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee criticized the questioning, saying it was held to create an excuse not to attend a parliamentary hearing to seek an impeachment motion against Yoon. Kim was summoned to the hearing as one of the witnesses. However, the presidential office has maintained its stance not to attend the “unconstitutional and illegal” hearing.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]