Lee Yongcheol, Justice Minister Nominee, to Report to Hearing Prep Team for First Time on Nov. 11: "Will State Position on Indictment Withdrawal Tomorrow"

Reports to work a day earlier than initially scheduled for Nov. 12
Brief Q&A with reporters expected at around 8:45 a.m.

Lee Yongcheol, nominee for justice minister, will report to the office of the confirmation hearing preparatory team for the first time on Nov. 11. Regarding the controversy over the withdrawal of indictments, he deferred a specific response, saying, "I'll speak about it tomorrow."

Lee Yongcheol, nominee for minister of justice, enters the Defense Acquisition Program Administration at Government Complex Gwacheon on the 10th. Yonhap News Agency.

When asked about his position on the controversy over the withdrawal of indictments on his way to work at the Defense Acquisition Program Administration at the Government Complex in Gwacheon on the morning of Nov. 10, Lee replied, "I think the confirmation hearing preparatory team's office will probably be ready tomorrow. I'll speak about it then."

Lee had initially been scheduled to report to the confirmation hearing preparatory team for the first time on Nov. 12, but moved the schedule up by one day. He is expected to have a brief question-and-answer session with reporters when he reports to the office set up at the Seoul Immigration and Foreigners Office in Munjeong-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, at around 8:45 a.m. on Nov. 11.

Reporters asked whether he would direct the withdrawal of indictments depending on the results of the fact-finding investigation, what he thought of criticism of the special counsel bill on fabricated prosecutions, and how he assessed the investigations into the Daejang-dong case and the Ssangbangwool case involving remittances to North Korea. Lee did not respond.

The previous day, Lee had said of the controversy over the withdrawal of indictments, "It is right to focus solely on establishing the facts," adding, "It would be best to handle everything else in accordance with the law and principles." This prompted some in political circles to interpret his remarks as leaving open the possibility of withdrawing the indictments.

This differs from the position of former Justice Minister Jeong Seong-ho, who said he had never considered withdrawing the indictments. Acting Prosecutor General Lee Jeong-hyun also previously made remarks suggesting that the results of the fact-finding investigation should be awaited. At last month's parliamentary audit, however, he explained that he had been stating only a general position and had never considered withdrawing the indictments.

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