Cheong Wa Dae expresses regret over author Yu Si-min's claim that Lee deceived public on prosecution reform

Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday it regrets author Yu Si-min's characterization of President Lee Jae Myung's remarks on prosecution reform, calling it a distortion of the president's commitment to the cause.

"We are verifying the facts regarding the continued baseless and critical claims," the presidential office said, adding that no decision had been made on possible legal action.

At a press conference Friday, Lee outlined what he described as the original maximum goal of prosecution reform: separating prosecutors who handle investigations from those who handle indictments, so that investigating prosecutors cannot also serve in a prosecutorial role, and dividing the Ministry of Justice into separate bodies responsible for investigations and prosecutions.

In response, Yu appeared on the Media Today YouTube channel Tuesday and took issue with those remarks, arguing that Lee's vision of prosecution reform "was completely different from what we had in mind, the position of the Democratic Party of Korea, and what was described as the president's campaign pledge." He added that Lee had "deceived the people all along."