Han Dong-hoon: 'Presidential direction of investigations would be impeachable, not the opposite'

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon took direct aim at President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday, saying it would be grounds for impeachment if the president were to direct investigations.

Han wrote on his Facebook page that Lee had claimed "it would be an impeachable offense if the president does not oversee the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency," adding that Lee had it "exactly backwards."

Han went on to say that "using the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, the prosecution service, or the police to block investigations into one's own crimes and attack political rivals — that is what would make presidential direction of investigations an impeachable offense."

Meanwhile, Lee had posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, amid a political dispute over whether the head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency should attend Cabinet meetings, arguing that "the president's direction and oversight of state affairs is both a right and a responsibility." Lee said abandoning oversight of the agency "would violate the Constitution and the Government Organization Act, constituting grounds for impeachment and a criminal offense of dereliction of duty."

The remarks reaffirmed his position that the agency chief should attend Cabinet meetings, even as some in political circles have raised concerns that such attendance could undermine the impartiality and neutrality of investigations.

Lee said the Constitution and the Government Organization Act explicitly state that "all ministries, departments and agencies — whether the prosecution service, the Korea Meteorological Administration or the National Fire Agency — are subject to the direction and oversight of the president and the prime minister."

He then posed a pointed question: "Let me ask: are you saying we should violate the Constitution and the law by refusing to direct and oversee the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency? Or are you saying the direction and oversight should be done not in an open meeting but behind closed doors?"

Lee added that "demanding the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency be excluded from open Cabinet meetings is a baseless argument that defies the Constitution, the law and common sense," and that the claim excluding the agency would ensure political neutrality was "without logic."

Regarding his Wednesday post in which he cited responses from the generative AI Gemini to weigh in on the Cabinet attendance dispute, Lee said he had not cited Gemini out of ignorance. "I did it so people could feel just how elementary and factually wrong — and how low-level — the argument against attendance really is," he said.