Kim Yong-min Rebuts Lee, Denies Backing Justice Ministry Control

Rep. Kim Yong-min of the Democratic Party of Korea, a hard-liner on prosecution reform, said on the 5th that he has never proposed placing the new Serious Crime Investigation Agency under the Ministry of Justice or leaving supplementary investigative powers with prosecutors. His remarks drew a line against President Lee Jae-myung's characterization of the positions held by advocates of prosecution reform.

Writing on Facebook that day, Kim said, "The complete separation of investigation and prosecution, with mutual checks, is the key mechanism for the success of reform." He explained that under the public prosecution agency bill he first introduced in December 2020, prosecutors were to request supplementary investigations rather than conduct them directly.

He also stressed that he had consistently argued the investigation agency should sit outside the Ministry of Justice. "In the bill on the Serious Crime Investigation Agency that I introduced in February 2021 after discussions with fellow lawmakers in the Cheoreumhoe caucus, a group of ruling-party lawmakers advocating stronger prosecution reform, we designed the agency not as part of the Ministry of Justice but on the model of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, an independent investigative body," Kim said. "In an interview in March 2025, right after the insurrection, I even proposed sending the agency to the prime minister's office. In the end, my position was that it absolutely could not be placed under the Ministry of Justice."

Kim's comments are seen as a rebuttal to the president's account. Earlier that day, Lee said on X that most advocates of prosecution reform had proposed placing both the Serious Crime Investigation Agency and the public prosecution agency under the Ministry of Justice and granting the prosecution agency supplementary investigative powers. He emphasized that the government had gone further than those original proposals by separating the two bodies into different ministries and eliminating supplementary investigative powers altogether. Lee's post cited a message from an internet user quoting Kim's past remarks.

Kim went on to say, "It is true that the Lee Jae-myung administration's prosecution reform has been adopted around the most reform-minded of the options that have been under discussion." He added, "Now we must all work together so that the system takes firm root in practice. We must ensure there is no backsliding, such as a revival of investigative powers through personnel arrangements."

"After a certain amount of time, the separation of investigation and prosecution will certainly take hold," he said. "Moving that timeline forward depends on the government's will and effort."