Former Prosecutor General Lee Wonseok: "Special Counsel on Fabricated Indictments Is a Political Move to Drop Charges... Unconstitutional and Unlawful"

"Also contradicts the principle of separating investigations from prosecutions"
"Grants special counsel full investigative and prosecutorial powers... a contradiction in terms"
Special counsel bill expected to pass National Assembly plenary session on November 6 afternoon

Former Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok called for an end to efforts to establish what is being dubbed a “special counsel on fabricated indictments,” calling it “unconstitutional legislation that would completely undermine the constitutional separation of powers.”

Former Prosecutor General Lee Wonseok takes the witness oath at a hearing on allegations of fabricated indictments in the Daejang-dong, former Korea Institute for Democracy deputy director Kim Yong, and Wirye New Town cases. The hearing was held on the 16th during the eighth plenary meeting of the National Assembly Special Committee on Investigating the Truth Behind Alleged Fabricated Indictments by Political Prosecutors under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration. On the right is Prosecutor Eom Heejun, who led the “second Daejang-dong investigation team.” 2026.4.16. Photo by Kim Hyunmin

In a statement issued on November 6, Lee said, “As a former prosecutor general, I can no longer remain silent about the current reality in which the Constitution and the rule of law are crumbling.”

Lee said, “Every political action has a purpose,” and pointed out that “the bill itself labels the alleged conduct as ‘fabricated investigations and fabricated indictments’ in its title.” He added, “They may try to open the way to dropping charges based on the special counsel’s one-sided findings, but no prosecutor will comply.” He criticized the push for a special counsel as a political move aimed at dropping charges.

He also pointed to the contradiction with the principle of separating investigations from prosecutions, which the government and ruling party have pursued. Lee said, “They are abolishing even prosecutors’ authority to conduct supplementary investigations, which is directly tied to people’s livelihoods, while granting the special counsel on dropping charges full authority to investigate and prosecute.” He criticized the bill, saying, “The only exception to the principle of separating investigations from prosecutions is a special counsel whose targets are selected by the Democratic Party and whose appointment is made by the president.” He also took issue with the retroactive application of prosecutors’ powers under the repealed Criminal Procedure Act.

Lee also argued that having a special counsel reinvestigate cases in which rulings have already become final or trials are underway would infringe on the judiciary’s independence. “It undermines the constitutional separation of powers for a special counsel, a temporary organization within the executive branch, to reopen cases with final rulings or pending trials and reach a judgment before the judiciary does,” he said.

He also noted that “special counsels are not established to investigate every time members of the public claim they have been treated unfairly,” and said creating a separate process only for cases involving the president and his close associates violates the constitutional principle of equality.

Lee urged, “If new evidence is found that could overturn a final ruling, the case should go through retrial proceedings. In ongoing trials, guilt or innocence should be determined based on the evidence and the law. This unconstitutional and unlawful special counsel must be abandoned. Judicial matters should be left to the judiciary.”

Meanwhile, a special counsel bill aimed at investigating allegations of fabricated investigations and indictments by prosecutors and others under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration is expected to pass the National Assembly plenary session on the afternoon of November 6, with the Democratic Party leading the effort. The special counsel’s authority to drop charges, which was included in the original bill, was removed from the revised version.

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