Lee Jae-myung, presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, attends the first-instance continuation trial for the Daejang-dong bribery and Seongnam FC bribery charges at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on April 29 last year. [Photo = Yonhap News]

President Lee Jae-myung made a surprising statement on February 23, 2022, when he was the presidential candidate for the Democratic Party of Korea. He declared that the "Daejang-dong development preferential treatment case," which he oversaw as the mayor of Seongnam, was actually a "prosecutorial gate" and that "Yoon Suk-yeol is the mastermind."

Everyone was shocked. Just five months prior, on September 14, 2021, Lee Jae-myung had boasted about the Daejang-dong project during the Democratic Party's presidential primary, calling it "the largest public interest recovery project since the era of Dangun."

As the true nature of the Daejang-dong development allegations gradually came to light and began to work against him, he completely reversed his stance, claiming that Yoon Suk-yeol, not he himself, was the culprit. Fine! Let's assume his claim that Yoon Suk-yeol is the mastermind behind the Daejang-dong case is true.

However, there are very strange phenomena occurring in the Blue House and within the Democratic Party that make it difficult to accept the "Yoon Suk-yeol is the culprit" theory. On the 30th of last month, the Democratic Party proposed a bill for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate allegations of fabricated investigations and prosecutions by the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's prosecution, National Intelligence Service, and Board of Audit and Inspection, among other issues, as a follow-up measure to the parliamentary inquiry.

The content of the bill is astonishing. This special prosecutor bill includes not only cases previously covered in the parliamentary inquiry into fabricated prosecutions, such as the Daejang-dong and Wirye New City development corruption allegations and North Korean remittance suspicions, but also major criminal cases related to President Lee Jae-myung, including the public official election law case that was sent back to the lower court by the Supreme Court with a guilty verdict, and the Seongnam FC third-party bribery allegations.

What is even more alarming is the provision that allows the special prosecutor to decide whether to continue the prosecution for cases already indicted and under trial. Withdrawal of prosecution is the act of a prosecutor retracting an indictment filed with the court.

While the desire of Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party to escape various charges through the extraordinary loophole of "withdrawal of prosecution" is understandable, regardless of its moral and legal justification, the problem lies with the "Daejang-dong development preferential treatment allegations." Isn't it strange? If former President Yoon Suk-yeol was indeed the mastermind, wouldn't it be more appropriate to thoroughly investigate and indict Yoon Suk-yeol for the Daejang-dong case and punish him severely?

He himself vocally advocated for such an approach. Lee Jae-myung himself, at the very place where he claimed Yoon Suk-yeol was the mastermind of Daejang-dong, emphatically stated, "Regardless of who becomes president, the special prosecutor must thoroughly investigate and hold them accountable." His expression at the time was serious.

Despite this, Lee Jae-myung remains silent on the Democratic Party's special prosecutor bill that includes withdrawal of prosecution. This seems to be a strategic move to distance himself and prove his innocence. One might suspect that his signature "invulnerability" tactic, as described by Professor Emeritus Kang Joon-man of Chonbuk National University, has been activated. In other words, it can be seen as part of a shrewd plan to bypass legal responsibility by establishing multiple intermediate stages for decisions that could lead to unfavorable outcomes in the future.

The People Power Party is also not staying silent. Regarding Lee Jae-myung's silence on the Democratic Party's "withdrawal of prosecution special prosecutor bill," Senior Spokesperson Park Sung-hoon stated, "The entire country is abuzz about the Democratic Party's proposed 'fabricated prosecution special prosecutor bill,' yet President Lee seems to be living in a different world, remaining silent." He questioned, "Isn't the fact that the party's leader remains silent essentially an admission that he is the one who directed the bill?"

Let's return to the main point. Regardless of these reactions from those around him, why have Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party opened the door for withdrawal of prosecution regarding the "Daejang-dong development allegations"? If the claim that "Yoon Suk-yeol is the mastermind" is true, then we must interpret this special prosecutor bill from a different perspective. It suggests a moral awakening and remorse, recognizing that the previous efforts to discredit Yoon Suk-yeol were excessive, and thus, they should at least clear Yoon Suk-yeol of the Daejang-dong charges.

Conversely, what if Lee Jae-myung's "Yoon Suk-yeol is the mastermind" statement was a complete fabrication? In that case, we can only re-examine President Lee's usual character and behavior. He is a politician who shows no hesitation in contradicting his past statements, regardless of what they were. Let's look at a few examples.

Recently, Lee Jae-myung has expressed a strong desire for severe punishment regarding "fake news." In a cabinet meeting in early April, he went as far as to say, "Fake news is tantamount to rebellion." He defined fake news not as mere false information but as an act that threatens state order. Furthermore, he even invoked "national stability" as a justification for strengthening criminal penalties.

According to his argument, the following logic holds: If the statement "Yoon Suk-yeol is the mastermind of Daejang-dong" is fake news, then it is not simply false information. It is equivalent to committing an act of rebellion against the nation, as he himself stated. He has a responsibility to clarify this matter.

There is more. During his presidential campaign, he emphasized the need for public officials to accept criticism from the media and citizens, stating, "Power must withstand public criticism." What did he do afterward? He took retaliatory measures, preventing an advertisement from being placed in a newspaper that criticized him, effectively delivering a death sentence.

As a member of the National Assembly, Lee Jae-myung promised to abolish the parliamentary immunity from arrest whenever the opportunity arose. However, when a motion for his arrest warrant was presented, he publicly urged lawmakers to vote against it. During the parliamentary audit on October 20, 2021, he brazenly provided false testimony regarding the preferential rezoning of the Baeghyeon-dong site, claiming that he "had no choice because the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport threatened me." Even after it was revealed that this was fake news, he did not change his expression.

Regarding Kim Moon-gi, the former head of the Daejang-dong Development Corporation who died by suicide during the investigation into the Daejang-dong allegations, he responded by saying, "I didn't know because he was a subordinate." However, Lee Jae-myung was charged with spreading false information after a photo of him traveling abroad with Kim Moon-gi surfaced.

If one searches for examples of Lee Jae-myung's lies or fake news, they pour out like a string of sweet potatoes. Yet, he calls for stricter punishment for fake news, labeling it an act of rebellion against the nation, without any apparent concern.

No matter how one looks at it, he seems to feel no inner pangs of conscience regarding his lies or drastic shifts in stance. He doesn't even show the changes in expression that would be apparent in others due to shame. His mental structure is close to what would be considered impossible for an ordinary person. Concerns about his character and behavior have been raised multiple times.

Kang Yoon-hyung, a psychiatrist and wife of former Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong, stated on the Maeil Business Newspaper YouTube broadcast, in response to the host's comment that Lee Jae-myung, as a presidential candidate, seemed like a person with both Jekyll and Hyde, or Janus, "Rather than Jekyll and Hyde or Janus, he shows tendencies of a sociopath or anti-social personality."

She added, "In psychiatric terms, what is called antisocial personality disorder, people with personality problems and disorders are characterized by the fact that they are not distressed, but those around them are." That's right. Currently, the entire country is experiencing immense confusion and suffering because of one politician.

So, will the Daejang-dong case be withdrawn or not? Will the fake news about the Daejang-dong case, which is akin to rebellion, be punished or not?

Former Editorial Advisor, Munhwa Ilbo