Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae: "Submitting and Disclosing Indictments to Lawmakers' Offices Is a Wrong Practice"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Regarding the decision not to submit the indictment related to the Blue House election interference case to the National Assembly, Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae explained, "After several deliberations, we reached the opinion that the wrong practice should not be repeated."

On the morning of the 5th, as she arrived at the Government Complex Gwacheon, Minister Choo told reporters, "There has been a wrong practice where the offices of lawmakers requested materials and the full indictment was immediately disclosed to the media," adding, "As of December 1 last year, regulations prohibiting the disclosure of criminal cases were also established. The Ministry of Justice cannot create rules and then fail to follow them."

The Ministry of Justice refused the National Assembly's demand to submit the indictments of 13 defendants, including Song Cheol-ho (71), Mayor of Ulsan, who was indicted on suspicion of election interference at the Blue House. The reason given was "concerns about infringing on the criminal defendants' right to a fair trial and the privacy and honor of those involved in the case." The Ministry stated that it would only provide the National Assembly with materials summarizing the facts of the indictment and would not submit the full indictments going forward.

Minister Choo said, "Once the trial procedure begins, the detailed contents of the indictment will be known in the open trial. Separately, there will no longer be any disclosure through materials submitted by the Ministry of Justice to the National Assembly."

Meanwhile, on the same day, the Dong-A Ilbo reported that it had obtained the indictment in the election interference case, stating that "former Blue House Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Cho Kuk received reports on the police investigation status surrounding former Ulsan Mayor Kim Gi-hyeon at least 15 times."

Minister Choo said, "How it was leaked is something that needs to be confirmed going forward," adding, "I believe the public will understand the Ministry of Justice's measures because the facts should be known through the right to a fair trial, not distorted through the media, which would lead to harm to the public."

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