Choo Mi-ae, 'Taming the Prosecution' Ahead of Meeting with Yoon Seok-yeol

This afternoon at the Ministry of Justice Minister's Office, a separate face-to-face
meeting location and format differed from previous practices
Text messages the day before showed a downgraded treatment of the prosecution
The prosecution felt uneasy... There were also signs of a mere formality

Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae is arriving at the Ministry of Justice in the Government Complex Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province on the 6th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl will meet today (7th) in the afternoon at the Ministry of Justice. Before the heads of institutions under the Ministry of Justice pay a courtesy visit to Minister Choo, they will have a separate face-to-face meeting. Previously, Prosecutor General Yoon reportedly made several meeting proposals after Minister Choo's inauguration but was rejected. It has been customary for the Minister of Justice and the Prosecutor General to hold separate meetings at a third location, not in the Minister's office, when the minister changes. Minister Choo broke this custom and strictly set the meeting place and format to be 'Ministry of Justice-centered.'

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice requested the members of the Prosecutor Personnel Committee to submit available dates and weighed the timing of the committee meeting. It is expected that the Ministry of Justice will immediately announce the prosecutor personnel changes after the meeting between Minister Choo and Prosecutor General Yoon. In legal circles, there are remarks that "Minister Choo's taming of the prosecution has begun."

The Ministry of Justice sent a text message to the press corps yesterday afternoon stating that heads of external agencies and subordinate institutions under the Ministry of Justice are scheduled to pay a visit to the Ministry following the minister's inauguration. The words 'prosecution' or 'prosecutor general' were not used. This placed the prosecution office on the same level as subordinate institutions such as the Korea Legal Aid Corporation, Government Legal Affairs Corporation, and the National Association of Crime Prevention Committees. Minister Choo also made it clear at the inauguration ceremony on the 3rd that the Ministry of Justice would assert its superiority as the higher authority over the prosecution. Using the phrase 'restoring the prosecution to its rightful place,' she said, "We will accelerate democratic control over the prosecution."

From the prosecution's perspective, which has been downgraded by the Ministry of Justice, the mood is likely uneasy. The prosecution was already 'passed over' during the personnel discussion process. Minister Choo said, "I am not consulting with the Prosecutor General on personnel but only listening to his opinions," but in reality, Prosecutor General Yoon was not properly given the opportunity to express his views. The first meeting on the 7th is said to be a mere formality to show that the Prosecutor General was consulted before the personnel changes, with no real intention from Minister Choo to gather Yoon's opinions. The Ministry of Justice stated, "The usual procedure of hearing opinions from the Prosecutor General regarding personnel will be conducted separately later," but considering the strong likelihood of the Personnel Committee meeting this week, many believe this will not be easy.

Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol is heading to the cafeteria for lunch on the 6th at the main building of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Meanwhile, the timing of the expected high-ranking prosecutor personnel changes earlier this week seems to be delayed somewhat. The date for the Personnel Committee meeting, which determines the personnel direction, has not yet been finalized. It is reported that the Ministry of Justice is currently coordinating the meeting date with the 11 committee members, composed of prosecutors, judges, lawyers, and law professors.

The Ministry of Justice is reportedly planning to fill eight vacant positions at the level of chief prosecutors or higher in this personnel reshuffle. Before Minister Choo's inauguration, there were six vacancies at the chief prosecutor level or above, but the number increased after Park Gyun-taek, head of the Judicial Research and Training Institute, and Kim Woo-hyun, chief prosecutor of Suwon High Prosecutors' Office, tendered their resignations on the 2nd. There is also a possibility that more prosecutor executives may submit their resignations before the Ministry announces the personnel changes.

Meanwhile, since the core of Minister Choo's envisioned prosecution reform is the 'de-prosecutionization' of the Ministry of Justice, it is expected that a non-prosecutor will be appointed to the key position of Director of the Prosecutor's Office. The leading candidate was said to be Hwang Hee-seok, Director of the Human Rights Bureau at the Ministry of Justice and a former member of the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (Minbyun), but he tendered his resignation yesterday. Hwang told reporters, "I heard rumors that one day I would be appointed as Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and the next day as Director of the Prosecutor's Office, but I have never received such proposals from anyone nor have I considered it myself." He added, "Reports suggesting conflicts regarding my personnel appointment are far from the truth and are like fictional stories," strongly denying speculations that the Blue House and Minister Choo are in conflict over the appointment of the Director of the Prosecutor's Office.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.