Choo Mi-ae on 'Prosecutor Personnel': "Prosecution Reform" vs "Prosecution Massacre"

On the afternoon of the 9th, Choo Mi-ae, Minister of Justice, attended a meeting held before the meeting of the Supreme Court Justice Nomination Committee at the Supreme Court reception room in Seocho-gu, Seoul, and listened to the opening remarks of Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Heo Midam] Regarding Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae's first personnel reshuffle in the prosecution, the ruling party judged it as an appropriate move made in the context of prosecutorial reform, while the opposition criticized it as a 'prosecutorial massacre.'

On the 10th, Seol Hoon, a Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Hong Moon-pyo, a member of the Liberty Korea Party, appeared on YTN's 'Noh Young-hee's Start New Morning' to discuss the high-ranking prosecutorial personnel reshuffle carried out by Minister Choo on the 8th.

Seol stated that although many aides supporting Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol were replaced in this reshuffle, "those who worked in criminal, trial, and human rights-related areas within the prosecution were promoted," adding, "I think this part is more important. The prosecution should not be run centered on the Special Investigation Division but should prioritize those focused on criminal, trial, and human rights matters."

He continued, "The prosecution is currently distrusted by the public. That is why prosecutorial reform was proposed, and this personnel reshuffle was made in the context of prosecutorial reform," evaluating, "I think this reshuffle has caught two rabbits at once."

On the other hand, Representative Hong expressed a negative stance. He criticized, "In short, this is a violent personnel takeover by the current administration's prosecution that did not even occur during the military dictatorship era," and added, "There has never been a case where personnel control and violence were exercised in this manner while investigating the nation's core power groups."

He agreed with the Liberty Korea Party's description of the 'prosecutorial personnel reshuffle' as a 'prosecutorial massacre,' stating, "Our party now believes we need to respond through legal review. We cannot just leave it as is. I think we have reached this point."

In response, Seol pointed out, "Have you ever seen the ruling party create a committee insisting that the prosecution must conduct fair investigations? This is the first time since liberation," and added, "Doesn't this mean that the prosecution had accumulated so much deep-rooted corruption?"

He further argued, "Those focused on criminal, trial, and human rights matters were promoted. As a result, all those in the Special Investigation Division left. Those people were all close aides of Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol," and said, "Those people acted unfairly. Minister Choo did what she naturally had to do, and if she hadn't, she probably would have been criticized by the public."

Then, Representative Hong criticized the Ministry of Justice for skipping the procedure of hearing Prosecutor General Yoon's opinion before issuing the personnel orders, saying, "This is ignoring the law and is an abuse of power," and raised his voice in criticism, "Even a small private organization cannot dismantle the core of the prosecution like this. All ongoing investigations must be stopped and restarted, but would the public really agree with this?"

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