Choo Mi-ae: "Why Is President Lee Living in Fear of the Insurrectionist Forces?"

"Nomination of the First Director of the Serious Crimes Investigation Office
who Was 'Allied with Han Donghoon'"

Choo Mi-ae, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, delivered a scathing criticism of President Lee Jae-myung on the 12th.

Choo Mi-ae, Governor of Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

On this day, at the '2026 Gyeonggi Province Democratization Movement Victims Memorial Ceremony' held at Moran Park in Namyangju City, Governor Choo stated, "Democratization is an ongoing process," adding, "Prosecutorial forces that suffocate and block people's livelihoods have seized all power, investigative authority, the right to indict, and the right to request warrants, manipulate false confessions, coax witnesses, conduct testimonial seminars, and hold drinking parties to distort cases. If these contradictions are not resolved, how can true democratization be achieved?"

Governor Choo further criticized the nomination of Kim Ji-yong as the inaugural Director of the Serious Crimes Investigation Office, stating, "If someone who was allied with Han Dong-hoon is appointed as the first director, is that democratization? Is that changing the country? Is that serving the will of the sovereign people? This is why democratization is certainly not over yet."

She continued, "People banded together to overcome insurrection, establish electoral democracy, and restore the constitutional order that the insurgent forces nearly stole away. In that case, the president should be punishing these forces. Why, then, is he relying on them and living in constant anxiety? Why is he treating the spirits of democratic fighters just as they were treated in the past?"

Governor Choo also remarked, "I am not here today as the Governor of Gyeonggi Province, but as a person of conscience living in this era, and I must confess my deep remorse to the spirits for not fulfilling my duties."

On the episode of the YouTube channel 'Kim Eo-jun's Humility Is Difficult: News Factory' aired on the 10th, Governor Choo said, "I believe that the drop in the president's approval rating is solely due to prosecutorial reform, not for any other reason," and pointed out, "If those of us living in this era shy away from prosecutorial reform—the primary reform of our generation—due to fear of backlash, doubt will grow and that will reflect the feelings of the supporters." Regarding the nomination of Kim Ji-yong as the Director of the Serious Crimes Investigation Office, she commented on his involvement in the investigation team of the Kim Hak-ui travel ban case and criticized, "Appointing someone whose specialty is distorting the truth to a position that requires proper investigations is the height of contradiction."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.