Senior prosecutor says withdrawal of indictments against Lee not considered

Park Chul-woo, chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office, said prosecutors had not considered withdrawing indictments involving President Lee Jae Myung. He made the statement during a parliamentary audit, where an opposition lawmaker asked whether Park had discussed dropping the charges with senior prosecutors or the Justice Ministry.

Park said he had offered no opinion and held no such discussions. He acknowledged strong public interest in Lee's cases but said they should be treated like other cases. He also said it was inappropriate to discuss the handling of a particular indictment or possible arrest during an audit.

Park further said he was not involved in the Justice Ministry fact-finding team's work. He therefore could not describe its investigations. The article gives no indication that prosecutors have begun withdrawing the charges. Lee's trials remain suspended while he is president.

An indictment is a formal charging document issued by prosecutors against someone suspected of a crime. It starts a criminal case in court and identifies the alleged offenses. An indictment is not a finding of guilt. The accused remains entitled to a trial and the presumption of innocence.

If prosecutors withdraw an indictment, they stop pursuing that particular charged case. The legal consequences can depend on the country's procedures and the reason for withdrawal. In some situations, prosecutors may be able to bring charges again; in others, legal deadlines or other rules may prevent that. The source does not explain South Korean withdrawal procedures in detail.

That distinction matters here because Lee's cases have been suspended, not withdrawn, according to the article. Suspension pauses the trials while he is president. Withdrawal would be a separate prosecutorial decision about whether the charges should continue.

The article does not state an exact number of criminal trials or cases involving Lee Jae Myung. It says only that he faced multiple criminal trials before winning the presidential election in June last year. Therefore, the precise scale cannot be calculated from the source.

What is clear is that the affected matters include Lee's criminal trials, which were already underway or pending before he became president. The article discusses indictments in the plural and refers to cases involving Lee. It does not provide a case-by-case list, a total number, or separate figures for indictments and trials.

The current reality is that the trials have been suspended while Lee is in office. That suspension is linked to presidential immunity from criminal prosecution, except for insurrection or treason. The article does not say how many cases would resume later or whether any indictment might be withdrawn.

Lee's criminal trials have been suspended because, according to the article, sitting presidents are immune from criminal prosecution while they remain in office. The rule prevents the ordinary criminal process from continuing against a serving president during the presidency. It affects Lee's trials, which began before he won the election in June last year.

The article identifies two exceptions to that immunity: insurrection and treason. It does not say that Lee is accused of either crime. It also does not explain the detailed constitutional or procedural steps for applying the exceptions.

This means suspension is a status-based pause, not a judgment on the allegations. The indictments have not been reported as withdrawn, and the article says prosecutors have not considered withdrawing them. The cases therefore remain distinct from completed prosecutions, although the article does not specify when or how proceedings could resume.

The Justice Ministry's future committee for respect for human rights has a fact-finding team examining cases involving Lee. Park Chul-woo said he was not involved in the team's work and had no knowledge of the details of its investigations. The source therefore does not identify the specific evidence, allegations, or procedures being reviewed.

Some people believe the team's eventual findings could provide grounds for dropping the charges. That view appears to rest on the possibility that an official review might identify facts or concerns relevant to whether the indictments should continue. The article does not say that the team has recommended withdrawal or reached any conclusion.

For now, the team's work has not changed the prosecution's stated position. Park said prosecutors have not considered withdrawing Lee's indictments. The investigation could become relevant later, but its outcome and any legal effect remain unknown in the source.

If indictments were withdrawn, prosecutors would stop pursuing the specific charges covered by those indictments. That would remove those charged cases from their current prosecution path. The exact consequences would depend on South Korean law, including whether charges could later be filed again, a detail the article does not provide.

Suspension works differently. Lee's indictments remain part of the background, but the criminal trials are paused because he is president. The pause reflects presidential immunity from criminal prosecution while in office, with insurrection and treason identified as exceptions. It does not itself resolve the allegations or establish guilt.

The present situation is therefore temporary suspension rather than abandonment. Park said prosecutors have not considered withdrawing the indictments. If prosecutors later chose withdrawal, the cases could end in their current form; if they remain suspended, proceedings could potentially continue later, though the article gives no timetable or procedure.

An indictment is the formal accusation that prosecutors bring against a person. A trial is the court process that examines the accusation, evidence, and arguments. A conviction is a court's finding that the accused is guilty. These stages are related but not interchangeable, and an indictment alone does not prove wrongdoing.

Lee's situation illustrates the difference. He faced multiple trials and indictments before becoming president, but the article does not report convictions. His trials were suspended after he won the election. Park also said prosecutors had not considered withdrawing the indictments, so suspension and withdrawal remain separate actions.

This distinction supports the rule of law by preserving the presumption of innocence and requiring guilt to be determined through a legal process. It also prevents a pause in proceedings from being mistaken for exoneration, or an accusation from being mistaken for a conviction. The source does not describe the evidence or outcomes in Lee's cases.