Justice minister nominee cautious on withdrawal of indictments against Lee

SEOUL, Nov. 9 (Yonhap) -- Justice Minister nominee Lee Yong-cheol on Monday expressed reservations about nullifying indictments against President Lee Jae Myung following last week's passage of a special counsel bill to investigate allegations of fabricated indictments, including those that currently involve the president.

The nominee, who currently serves as head of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), said the special counsel should focus exclusively on uncovering the truth.

He was tapped Friday to become the justice minister, a post that has remained vacant for more than two months since Lee's first justice minister, Jung Sung-ho, resigned in late August.

The National Assembly passed the special counsel bill on the same day amid protests from the main opposition People Power Party, which suspects the legislation is aimed at canceling all indictments against the president.

"I believe it is appropriate for the special counsel to focus solely on uncovering the truth from now on, while all other matters should be handled in accordance with the law and established principles," the justice minister nominee said in a meeting with reporters at DAPA, referring to similar remarks made by the president in September.

Previously, Jung said the decision on whether to withdraw an indictment targeting the president was a matter for the prosecution to determine, while acting Justice Minister Lee Jin-soo also said Jung made it clear that the ministry had no intention of ordering the nullification of indictments.

Unlike Jung, however, nominee Lee refrained from taking a clear position on the matter.

He then rejected opposition allegations that he was a behind-the-scenes architect of the controversial real estate development scandal in Seongnam's Daejang-dong district in 2015, when President Lee was the city's mayor.

Addressing opposition criticism of his close personal ties to the president, the nominee said he did not believe such a relationship constitutes grounds for disqualification from serving as a minister.

Lee said he interpreted the president's nomination as a mandate to successfully complete the prosecution reform and stabilize the new criminal justice system as soon as possible.