Cho Kuk urges caution over push to withdraw President Lee’s indictments

Cho Kuk has urged caution over a proposed special prosecutor bill that could allow prosecutors to withdraw indictments against President Lee Jae-myung. He said any claim of fabricated prosecution must first be established with evidence.

Writing on Facebook, Cho said investigations by the Justice Ministry, the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office or the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials should secure evidence of fabrication. He also called for the results of a fact-finding inquiry into Lee’s cases by a Justice Ministry committee to be taken into account.

Cho said Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won should produce visible results quickly after taking office. “If a law gives the impression that it was made for a specific individual, it will fail,” Cho wrote. He warned that pushing ahead with the withdrawal of Lee’s indictments without resolving those questions could bring political and legal trouble.

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If a law gives the impression that it was made for a specific individual, it will fail.

He also pointed to cases involving Lee that were suspended while appeals were pending. Under South Korea’s current Criminal Procedure Act, prosecutors can withdraw an indictment only before a first-instance verdict. Cho said including a provision covering cases pending on appeal could prompt a trial court to request a constitutional review of the special prosecutor law.

Cho further argued that many officials from the former Moon Jae-in administration had faced what he described as targeted investigations and were later acquitted. He said the Democratic Party’s failure to seek withdrawal of those cases while they were still at trial created the impression that the current proposal was intended only to end Lee’s proceedings.

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If the withdrawal of the indictment against President Lee is pushed through while ignoring this, it will inevitably result in political and legal trouble.