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Prosecutor General Lee One-seok arrives at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in Seoul’s Seocho District on July 22, 2024. (Kim Young-won/Hankyoreh)

The prosecutors are facing a backlash after their decision to conduct a closed-door questioning of first lady Kim Keon-hee in an offsite location, while effectively bypassing the prosecutor general. Critics are saying the situation shows that Kim is being treated as an “untouchable” exception to the rule of law.

Indeed, Prosecutor General Lee One-seok stressed Monday that he had “stated on numerous occasions that there are no exceptions, no preferential treatment, and no sacred cows when it comes to the law, yet these rules were not observed in the process of questioning the president’s wife.” He went on to express his “deepest apologies to the South Korean public.”

With his remarks, the prosecutor general essentially acknowledged that there was preferential treatment. If that’s the case, then an apology alone is not enough — the situation needs to be remedied. If the prosecutors fail to take action to fix things, and if they end up going through procedures to dismiss the accusations against Kim, they will face some serious questions about their reason for being.

Prosecutors’ questioning of Kim was carried out on Saturday at a Presidential Security Service (PSS) annex in the Changseong neighborhood of Seoul’s Jongno District, near the location of the Blue House. It wouldn’t be overstating things to call this a case of Kim “summoning” the prosecutors, rather than the other way around.

The questioning consisted of just five hours each allotted to the Deutsch Motor stock price manipulation allegations and alleged acceptance of graft in the form of a handbag. That is enough to suggest that the prosecutors were merely building a rationale for opting not to press charges.

That sort of speculation is only fueled by the way the process bypassed the prosecutor general, someone who has consistently emphasized adherence to principle in investigations.

On Monday, Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office chief Lee Chang-su delivered a report to him on Kim’s questioning. During that meeting, he sternly reprimanded Lee, who reportedly apologized several times.

The only conclusion that can be drawn here is that Lee Chang-su disregarded the prosecutor general’s orders, counting on the backing of President Yoon Suk-yeol. This in itself sends the message to the South Korean republic once again that the prosecutors are an organization that bows to those in power.

Lee One-seok also stressed, “In terms of the remaining investigation and handling of this case, I intend to do everything in my power to ensure adherence to the principles of the Constitution, which states that ‘all citizens shall be equal before the law.’”

He has expressed the same message multiple times in the past, and he currently has two months left in his term. In that sense, his remarks do ring a bit hollow.

But this “last” promise is about more than Lee One-seok’s attitude as an individual — the very fate of the prosecutors is on the line. If the prosecutors do end up deciding not to press charges against Kim after all this, they will face demands not just for a special prosecutors’ investigation but for reforms that amount to dismantling their organization.

For Lee to keep his promise, Kim will need to be summoned to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office for proper questioning. If Kim herself believes that she can dodge the allegations with a pro forma questioning by prosecutors, she has another thing coming.

As usual, the situation has only been made worse. With Kim having now been named as a witness in a National Assembly hearing Friday regarding a petition to impeach the president, it’s time for her to appear before the public and offer a frank explanation and apology.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]