"Cheongtak Allegation" Policy Advisor to Choo Mi-ae: "Baseless, Absurd Suspicion"

Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission./Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The policy advisor to Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae, who has been accused of receiving illicit solicitations from parties involved in a case, has denied the allegations, calling them "groundless."

Prosecutor A, who is serving as Minister Choo's policy advisor, stated through the Ministry of Justice on the 20th, "The reports regarding my time at Jeonju District Prosecutors' Office are baseless and utterly absurd allegations," adding, "I have no knowledge of the stakeholders mentioned in the recordings, nor do I know how my name was brought up. Therefore, there is no possibility that any solicitations related to the case were made."

He continued, "The related case was investigated by the local police agency involving the embezzlement by the president of a certain disabled persons' association, who was arrested and sent to prosecution. The case was handled according to principles and procedures," explaining, "The police's request for an arrest warrant was initially rejected once, followed by supplementary investigations before the warrant was granted, showing that the process was handled with caution."

Prosecutor A also added, "I recall that there were intense internal conflicts and power struggles within the disabled persons' association, but no one should defame or exploit the prosecutor handling the case for any vested interests or specific purposes."

Furthermore, he stated, "Regardless of the related procedures, the one-sided allegations were reported without filtering, severely damaging my reputation," and added, "The truth will be clearly revealed just by verifying the stakeholders mentioned. I hope my reputation will not be further harmed by speculation or unilateral claims."

Prosecutor A indicted the association president B last May at Jeonju District Prosecutors' Office on charges of embezzling 720 million KRW of the association's funds. During this process, he has been accused of receiving bribes from an individual who was a rival of B in exchange for requesting an arrest warrant.

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission reportedly received a tip-off and a recording in February containing content that B promised to give 50 million KRW to Prosecutor A, and after investigation, recently forwarded the matter to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

According to relevant laws, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission may forward reports to investigative agencies if it is unclear whether an audit or investigation is necessary and whether to transfer the case to another institution or close it internally.

Prosecutor A moved to the Ministry of Justice in July last year and is currently working as Minister Choo's policy advisor.

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