"The people were waiting for a justice minister, but the president is picking his own defense counsel"

"The president must exclude those who defended him in his own cases"

People Power Party lawmaker Na Kyung-won on Sunday criticized President Lee Jae Myung over reports that he is considering Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers Park Kyun-taek and Yang Bu-nam as candidates for justice minister — a post that has been vacant for two months — saying, "The people were waiting for a justice minister, but what the president is picking is his own defense counsel." Na is seen questioning a witness at a National Assembly national audit session. [Yonhap]
People Power Party lawmaker Na Kyung-won on Sunday criticized President Lee Jae Myung over reports that he is considering Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers Park Kyun-taek and Yang Bu-nam as candidates for justice minister — a post that has been vacant for two months — saying, "The people were waiting for a justice minister, but what the president is picking is his own defense counsel." Na is seen questioning a witness at a National Assembly national audit session. [Yonhap]

People Power Party lawmaker Na Kyung-won on Sunday criticized President Lee Jae Myung over reports that he is considering Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers Park Kyun-taek and Yang Bu-nam to fill the justice minister post, vacant for two months, saying, "The people were waiting for a justice minister, but what the president is picking is his own defense counsel."

In a Facebook post that day, Na took aim at both lawmakers. "The names are two, but the résumé is one," she wrote. "Both were Lee Jae Myung's defense lawyers."

"The essence of this appointment is not the naming of a minister," Na said. "It is a defendant handing control of his own case to his own defense lawyer. Everyone knows what comes next: withdrawal of the indictment."

On Park, Na said he "served as President Lee's defense lawyer in the Baekhyeon-dong, Seongnam FC and inter-Korean remittance cases, and was present at the warrant review hearing." She added that Park "publicly argued for the withdrawal of charges against the president and even called for including the power to drop charges in the so-called fabricated-indictment special prosecutor bill."

Turning to Yang, Na said he "spent a year and a half as the party's legal affairs committee chairman, overseeing the response to then-party leader Lee Jae Myung's legal risk." She added, "One defended the president in the courtroom; the other defended him within the party. Now they are deciding which of the two will defend him from inside the Justice Ministry."

Na also noted that the Prosecution Service had been dissolved earlier this month and that the new Public Indictment Office and Serious Crimes Investigation Agency had just launched. "The first justice minister under the new criminal justice system is the first button to be fastened," she said. "And they intend to fasten that first button to serve the president's personal interest in having his charges dropped."

She continued: "The president has been looking for someone who can wipe his slate cleaner. It does not matter to him if his approval rating falls, if the public is outraged, or if the judicial system is shaken and the damage falls entirely on the people."

Na further warned that "at this rate, the confirmation hearing will not be a forum for vetting but a rehearsal for dropping the charges," and called on President Lee to "exclude from the list of justice minister candidates anyone who defended him in his own cases."


shindw@heraldcorp.com