Justice Minister Jeong Seong-ho said Tuesday that "neither the Ministry of Justice nor I have conducted any review regarding the dismissal of charges" against President Lee Jae-myung.
Jeong made the remarks during a parliamentary Q&A session on education, social affairs, and culture at the National Assembly, responding to People Power Party lawmaker Lee Jong-bae, who questioned whether the National Assembly's special committee investigating alleged political prosecution and fabricated indictments under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration was aimed at dropping charges against President Lee in the North Korea remittance case.
When lawmaker Lee pointed out that disciplinary action against prosecutor Park Sang-yong, who had been investigating President Lee's North Korea remittance case, was hasty, Jeong responded that "it's not just about the 'salmon party' — numerous problems were discovered during the Ssangbangwool North Korea remittance investigation, which is why an inspection is underway."
He added that "there were more than 100 improper summons interrogations, and written confirmations were not prepared after interrogations on dozens of occasions," explaining that "the decision was made comprehensively considering various issues including allowing outside visitors and outside food."
When People Power Party lawmaker Jo Bae-sook argued that Democratic Party lawmaker Jeon Jae-soo receiving a non-prosecution decision the day after being confirmed as the Busan mayoral candidate amounted to "investigation favoring those in power," Jeong countered, "If they really wanted to do him a favor, wouldn't they have waited before announcing it?"
The minister explained that "combining the investigation process and results over time, the announcement happened to fall on that day," adding that "regarding lawmaker Jeon, some charges were dismissed due to lack of prosecutorial authority and others due to insufficient evidence, with slightly different timelines."
