Singer Lee Ha-neul criticizes reactions to President Lee's decision not to pursue punishment of Yu Si-min

Singer Lee Ha-neul has expressed sharp displeasure at reactions that treated President Lee Jae Myung's decision not to seek punishment for author Yu Si-min as a personal favor.

During a live broadcast on his YouTube channel "Jabgiwang Lee Ha-neul" on Monday, Lee spoke up while dining with Yu. "I just saw something that bothered me, so I'm going to say something," he said. "Now that the president dropped the punishment, he's starting to come out? Was what he said even something that deserved punishment, by any reasonable standard?"

He went on to say, "Saying 'I don't want him punished' — does that even make sense? Watching people treat that like some great act of generosity, like he's bestowing a favor, is honestly irritating."

Lee also pushed back against comments invoking the SillaJen allegations against Yu. "What is there? What has actually come out? Stop hating on and attacking a perfectly innocent person," he said.

Returning to the table, Lee tried to comfort Yu, saying, "As you can see from the chat, there are far more people cheering for us and supporting us. So many people genuinely want you to be well and doing fine." Yu brushed it off, replying, "I'm not struggling — why are you trying to comfort me?"

Earlier, Yu had appeared on a YouTube broadcast last month and criticized President Lee, saying his vision of prosecutorial reform "was completely different from what we had in mind — the Democratic Party of Korea's position, what was stated as the president's campaign pledge." He added, "The president has been deceiving the public all along."

A civic group called Judicial Justice Action filed a complaint against Yu on charges of defamation through false statements based on those remarks. President Lee subsequently informed police in writing that he did not wish to see Yu punished, and the case was closed without referral to prosecutors. Under Korean law, defamation is classified as a crime that cannot be prosecuted against the explicit wishes of the victim.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's public crime investigation unit decided Tuesday to close the case against Yu without referral, citing a lack of grounds for prosecution.