'35 Minutes' Autumn-Yoon Meeting... No Private One-on-One Talks (Comprehensive Report 2)

Yoon Seok-yeol and Chu Mi-ae Meet for 35 Minutes on the 7th
Inaugural Greeting Format... No Private Meeting Between 'Chu-Yoon'
Ministry of Justice and Supreme Prosecutors' Office: "Routine Courtesy Visit for New Minister"
Meeting Location and Format Differ from Previous Practices
Prosecutor Personnel Changes Likely to Be Delayed

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy reporters Seongpil Cho and Seungyun Song] Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol officially met with Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae on the 7th, marking his first visit to the Ministry of Justice since Chu's inauguration.

Yoon met with Minister Chu in her office at the Ministry of Justice from 4 p.m. for about 35 minutes. The meeting took place in the form of greetings from heads of external agencies and subordinate organizations under the Ministry of Justice, and the scene of the two meeting was not made public.

Initially, it was reported that Yoon would meet Minister Chu separately before the heads of agencies under the Ministry of Justice paid their respects. However, with the Deputy Minister of Justice, Director of the Prosecutor's Office, and Deputy Prosecutor General attending together, there was effectively no private meeting between the two.

After the visit, at around 4:35 p.m., Yoon left the minister's office without responding to reporters' questions such as "Was there any discussion about personnel matters?" and "Is the promise to protect the convictions of the prosecution members still valid?" When Yoon arrived at the Ministry of Justice building at around 3:55 p.m. for the visit, he also did not answer questions from the press about whether he would discuss prosecutor personnel matters or his stance on the speculation about a major reshuffle of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office investigation leadership. Minister Chu, who arrived about an hour earlier than Yoon, also only smiled and did not respond to reporters' questions about whether she would exchange opinions with Yoon on personnel matters as she headed to her office.

Immediately after the meeting, the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office sent text messages to reporters stating, "Today's meeting was a customary visit by the Prosecutor General following the inauguration of the Minister of Justice, during which they exchanged New Year's greetings and pleasantries," and "The Minister of Justice requested cooperation to ensure that the legislative reforms of the prosecution are well established, and the Prosecutor General expressed active agreement and pledged to do his best to complete the prosecution reform during the minister's tenure."

Some speculated that Yoon and Minister Chu would exchange opinions on prosecution personnel matters during this meeting. However, it has not been confirmed whether any mention of high-ranking prosecution personnel changes was made. The Ministry of Justice had previously stated that consultations regarding prosecution personnel would be conducted separately according to standard procedures.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This is the first official visit by Prosecutor General Yoon to the Ministry of Justice since Minister Chu's inauguration. Previously, Yoon did not attend Minister Chu's inauguration ceremony held on the 3rd. It is customary for the Prosecutor General not to attend the Ministry of Justice Minister's inauguration ceremony but to meet separately. Yoon and Minister Chu also met at the government's New Year's gathering but reportedly did not engage in separate conversations. When Minister Chu was appointed, the two only exchanged brief pleasantries over the phone.

The meeting was reportedly conducted in a generally amicable atmosphere, but within and outside the legal community, there are remarks that "Minister Chu's taming of the prosecution has begun" regarding the process leading up to the talks.

Previously, Yoon reportedly made several proposals for meetings after Minister Chu's inauguration but was rejected. It was customary for the Minister of Justice and the Prosecutor General to hold separate meetings at a third location rather than in the Minister's office when a new minister took office. Minister Chu broke this custom by strictly setting the meeting place and format to be centered on the Ministry of Justice. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice requested possible attendance dates from members of the Personnel Committee and weighed the timing of the committee's meeting.

Although the Ministry of Justice stated that consultations on prosecution personnel would be conducted separately, considering the strong likelihood of the Personnel Committee meeting this week, many speculate it will not be easy. However, if no discussion about prosecution personnel was made during this meeting, there is cautious speculation that the two may meet again.

The prosecution also insists that the consultation process must follow the procedures stipulated by law. According to the Prosecutors' Office Act, the Minister of Justice must hear the Prosecutor General's opinion when appointing prosecutors and propose their assignments.

The prosecution flag is fluttering at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the 30th, as the summons investigation of Jung Kyung-shim, wife of Justice Minister Cho Kuk and professor at Dongyang University, is imminent. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Accordingly, the timing of the expected high-ranking prosecution personnel appointments, initially anticipated earlier this week, is likely to be delayed somewhat. The date for the Personnel Committee meeting, which determines the direction of personnel appointments, has not yet been finalized. The Ministry of Justice is reportedly coordinating the meeting date with the 11 committee members, including 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 Chu'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, resigned on the 2nd. There is also a possibility that additional resignations from prosecution executives may occur before the Ministry of Justice announces the personnel changes.

Meanwhile, since the core of Minister Chu's prosecution reform plan is the 'de-prosecutionization' of the Ministry of Justice, it is anticipated that a non-prosecutor will be appointed to the key position of Director of the Prosecutor's Office. A leading candidate was 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 resigned the day before. 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 between the Blue House and Minister Chu over my appointment are far from the truth and are like fictional stories," dismissing speculation that there is discord over the appointment of the Director of the Prosecutor's Office.

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