In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Lee said, "Prosecution reform is done for the people, not to build the political legacy of particular individuals." He added forcefully, "It is even more wrong to disparage others' efforts as useless, or even as obstacles, in order to monopolize achievements that everyone worked together to produce."
He also drew a line against approaching prosecution reform as revenge on the prosecution service. "Prosecution reform is not about taking revenge on the prosecution or destroying its functions," he said. "It is about separating the investigative and indictment functions so that both work optimally without being abused by those in power."
Lee laid out the record point by point: "The government did not drag its feet on prosecution reform. In line with a party-government agreement, we achieved a complete separation of investigation and indictment more quickly and more thoroughly than any other administration, and went beyond what many people — not I — originally envisioned by even separating the agencies into different ministries."
"What remains now is making sure the investigative function of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the prosecution function of the Public Prosecution Office under the Ministry of Justice work well," he said. Lee added that the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency "will investigate strictly and thoroughly, without regard to which side anyone is on, corruption crimes by public officials that eat away at our society, economic crimes such as stock price manipulation and collusion that bring tears to ordinary people and disrupt economic order, and white-collar crime." The Public Prosecution Office, he said, "will carry out indictments and the maintenance of prosecutions fairly and transparently as a representative of the public interest, defending the human rights of the people."
Lee concluded, "The task of prosecution reform — separating investigation and indictment — has now been institutionally completed by law, and what remains is to settle it in place and run it properly." He added, "As I always stress, the most important thing in all public work, including state affairs, is to distinguish public from private and to set aside personal motives."
Meanwhile, shortly after Lee urged late Sunday that "we must guard against radical claims that cannot be backed up, whether from the left or the right, and against irresponsible extremism," Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae continued to voice opposition to Kim's appointment, saying she would "leave behind the truth rather than a servile silence."
Characterizing Kim as part of the prosecution establishment, Choo said, "Just when I expected prosecution reform to have cleared the final ridge, bullets came flying again from behind. I am a fool for not having even imagined that a day would come when I would have to go back over all of this in detail."
