Three Months into Lee's Presidency and Early Challenges Still Loom Large

President Lee Jae-myung is marking his third holiday since taking office, yet judicial risks that dominated the early days of his presidency, along with prosecution and judicial reforms and Korea-U.S. trade issues, remain major pending matters.

According to political circles on the 22nd, while the specific issues have shifted compared to when he took office, related legislation, trials, and Korea-U.S. consultations continue to this day.

First, President Lee's judicial risks have seen all proceedings stall since taking office, but have shifted to disputes surrounding the fabricated indictment special probe and the withdrawal of charges.

When President Lee took office, he was facing five criminal trials: a retrial on violations of the Public Official Election Act, the Daejang-dong, Baekjeon-dong, and Wirye development cases, the Seongnam FC case, perjury-suborning, North Korea remittance by Ssangbangul, and misappropriation of Gyeonggi Province corporate card funds.

After taking office, the court has repeatedly postponed trial dates, and as of July 22 last year, even the North Korea remittance case was adjourned, resulting in all five criminal trials being suspended. The trial division for the North Korea remittance case cited the president's constitutional duties and the continuity of state administration as reasons.

Subsequently, political circles shifted focus to the so-called "fabricated indictment special probe." Particularly, controversy arose over the possibility of withdrawing charges on cases related to President Lee, given provisions allowing the special probe to receive and dispose of existing indictment cases.

President Lee emphasized the need for truth-finding regarding fabricated indictment allegations at a press conference on the 18th, but requested the National Assembly to "delete provisions regarding the transfer and disposal of existing indictment cases and concentrate solely on truth-finding."

Prosecution and judicial reforms initiated shortly after taking office continue to this day.

Democratic Party lawmakers submitted a prosecution reform bill a week after President Lee took office on June 11 last year, which includes abolishing the Prosecution and establishing a Public Prosecutors Office and Major Crimes Investigation Agency.

Subsequently, the abolition of the Prosecution and the establishment of the Public Prosecutors Office and Major Crimes Investigation Agency were enacted into law, and the new criminal justice system launches on the 2nd of next month.

The government approved 51 related laws for the overhaul of the criminal justice system at a State Affairs Council meeting on that day, including a revised enforcement ordinance on the Major Crimes Investigation Agency's organizational operation allowing Public Prosecutors Office prosecutors to request supplementary or reinvestigation by the Major Crimes Investigation Agency for seven major crimes targeting socially vulnerable groups.

Conflicts surrounding the judiciary continue.

Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae stated that the Blue House's request to re-nominate a chief justice candidate lacks constitutional basis and cannot be accepted. The Blue House countered that this represents a view that undermines the president's constitutional appointment power over chief justices.

Korea-U.S. trade issues have also shifted focus from tariff negotiations initiated after taking office to matters regarding implementation of investments in the United States.

The government lowered the mutual tariff rate that was projected at 25 percent to 15 percent through negotiations with the United States last July, and agreed to adjust automobile and parts tariffs to 15 percent. In the process, Korea presented a plan to invest a total of $350 billion in the United States, including $150 billion in shipbuilding cooperation investment.

The two countries subsequently agreed on details including investment structure and profit-sharing in October last year and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in November covering the operational methods of $200 billion in strategic investment and $150 billion in shipbuilding cooperation investment.

However, in the process of implementing the agreement, consultations over actual investment targets and conditions remain ongoing. The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy revealed on the 9th that "consultations between Korea and the U.S. regarding investment in the United States are currently in progress," and explained that the scale of strategic investment does not exceed $200 billion in accordance with the MOU.

President Lee also acknowledged the fact of renegotiation regarding U.S. investment at a press conference on the 18th, stating, "They say almost an agreement has been reached, but there are some parts that are not easy to agree with." He explained that profit-sharing and handling of loss-incurring projects are points of contention in the specific investment consultation process.

The three pending matters that originated from President Lee's criminal trials, prosecution reform, and U.S. tariff pressure at the time of taking office are now linked to the fabricated indictment special probe and withdrawal of charges, implementation of the new criminal justice system and judicial conflicts, and U.S. investment project consultations.

A political source stated, "The issues that have continued since early in President Lee Jae-myung's presidency have not been resolved as time passed, but rather have persisted as a burden on state affairs while changing their form of contention. If these are difficult to resolve in the short term, there is a need to find political compromises or allow events to unfold naturally, while concentrating the administration's capabilities on creating substantive achievements for the administration."