“Strict Investigation Ordered by Lee… No Reason to Oppose
Not Personal Deviation, But Power-Type Financial Crime”
Democratic Party Ethics Tribunal: “Significant Misconduct”
Notification of Disciplinary Reasons to Party Membership Review Committee
On August 7th, lawmakers including Joo Jin-woo of the People Power Party submitted the “Special Prosecutor Act to Investigate Unfair Trading through Insider Information Using Illegal Accounts, Including Those by the National Planning Committee such as Lee Chun-seok,” at the National Assembly. The People Power Party declared Representative Lee Chun-seok’s stock transactions as a power-related corruption and introduced the “Lee Chun-seok Gate Special Prosecutor Act.” They pressured the Democratic Party to cooperate as the People Power Party cannot proceed with a special prosecutor solely with their 107 seats.
Song Eon-seok, the floor leader and emergency committee chair of the People Power Party, stated at an emergency general assembly that “the allegation of Representative Lee’s illegal stock transactions is not a mere personal deviation,” and called it a “power-type financial crime gate involving the massive national projects by the Lee Jae-myung government, touted as an AI national representative.”
Song further pressed, stating, “The People Power Party has decided to propose the Lee Chun-seok Gate Special Prosecutor Act as a party draft after gathering the consensus of all 107 members, and given that President Lee Jae-myung himself ordered a thorough investigation, the Democratic Party has no reason to oppose introducing a special prosecutor.” He also suggested a probe into all 300 lawmakers regarding allegations of illegal trading.
The targets of the Special Prosecutor Act investigation include Representative Lee, national planning committee members, expert members, working committee members, and the illegal activities through proxy assets of all lawmakers, with an investigation period of up to 170 days. It is structured similarly to the Kim Kun-hee Special Prosecutor Act, involving a team of 205 personnel, said chief spokesperson Park Sung-hoon. Joo Jin-woo submitted the special prosecutor bill following the assembly.
The Democratic Party’s Ethics Tribunal decided that Representative Lee deserves expulsion and will notify the Party Membership Review Committee of the disciplinary reasons. The tribunal judged Lee’s actions as a severe breach of duty by an elected official, potentially violating the Real Name Financial Transactions Act, and raising conflict of interest issues due to his trading of AI-related stocks while overseeing the economic sector of the national planning committee.
Meanwhile, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Financial Crime Investigation Unit has formed a dedicated team of 25 individuals, including lawyers and accountants specializing in legal and financial tracking, for an intensive investigation.