▲ Park Chul-woo, Chief of the Seoul Central Prosecution Service, delivers a work report during a parliamentary audit of the Seoul Metropolitan Prosecution Service (formerly the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office) held by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly on the 19th.
Park Chul-woo, Chief of the Seoul Central Prosecution Service, stated during a parliamentary audit held by the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee today (the 19th) that he has never considered withdrawing the indictments in cases involving President Lee Jae-myung.
Chief Park gave this response when asked by People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun whether he had ever expressed opinions or consulted with the Supreme Prosecutors' Office or the Ministry of Justice regarding the withdrawal of indictments in President Lee's cases.
He added, "I am aware that there is immense public interest in the [President Lee] cases, but they are no different from any other cases," explaining, "It is a principle that I cannot comment on how we will handle individual cases, and we do not discuss whether to indict or detain individuals during parliamentary audits for other cases either."
Regarding the Ministry of Justice's Future Committee for Respecting Human Rights in Prosecution (Future Committee) fact-finding team, which has been pointed out as a potential basis for pushing to withdraw indictments in the future, he stated, "We are not involved in its operations" and that he does not know the details of its investigations.
Meanwhile, the authority of the Future Committee's fact-finding team emerged as a major issue during today's parliamentary audit.
In response to a question from People Power Party lawmaker Kim Min-jeon asking whether the scope of review by the Prosecution Service's Case Deliberation Committee includes decisions on whether to withdraw indictments, Acting Chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Prosecution Service Jung Yong-hwan stated, "Under the operational regulations, the subjects of deliberation are the filing of indictments, whether to appeal, and requests for arrest warrants," adding, "It seems necessary to review whether it falls under the matters you mentioned."
Regarding criticisms that granting investigative powers to the Future Committee's fact-finding team violates the revised Criminal Procedure Act, he said, "It is a matter that needs to be assessed through consultations between the fact-finding team and the Ministry of Justice," adding, "I believe the fact-finding team will make an appropriate judgment taking such points into consideration."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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