Prosecutors Contemplate Response Plan to Minister Chu's Directive... Likely to Finalize Position Today

Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] As Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae strongly criticized Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol over the handling of the complaint case against the 'Han Myeong-suk investigation team,' attention is focused on how the prosecution will respond going forward.

On the 19th, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office is discussing a response plan to Minister Choo's directive from the previous day to have Mr. Han, an important witness in this case, directly investigated by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Inspection Department and to report the investigation results, including the progress so far, to the Ministry of Justice. Earlier, Prosecutor General Yoon had assigned the case to the Human Rights Department and then to the Human Rights Supervisor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office for investigation.

On the surface, since Minister Choo did not instruct to hand over the entire case to the Inspection Department, Prosecutor General Yoon is likely to concede the investigation of Mr. Han to the Inspection Department but allow the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office to continue the rest of the investigation.

A Supreme Prosecutors' Office official said, "There was the minister's directive yesterday, but no official position has been finalized yet." The prosecution is expected to organize and announce its stance on Minister Choo's directive as early as today.

The clash between Minister Choo and Prosecutor General Yoon stems from differing perspectives on the nature of this case. Minister Choo views it as a matter concerning the misconduct of prosecutors in the 'Han Myeong-suk investigation team,' thus subject to inspection. On the other hand, Prosecutor General Yoon sees it as an issue of human rights violations during the investigation process.

A Ministry of Justice official said, "The minister judged it as a matter of prosecutor misconduct and sent it to the Inspection Department, but (Prosecutor General Yoon) repeatedly turning it this way is inappropriate," adding, "The minister still considers the case to be with the Inspection Department." The official continued, "If the investigation results from the Central District Prosecutors' Office are insufficient, it will be up to the Inspection Department to decide whether a reinvestigation is necessary and to proceed with it."

Ultimately, if the Central District Prosecutors' Office delays the investigation or produces insufficient results, the Inspection Department, supported by Minister Choo, may fully reinvestigate the case. In this process, if even partial illegal evidence fabrication attempts by the 2010 investigation team are revealed, Prosecutor General Yoon's position, who judged it not subject to inspection, could be significantly shaken.

Meanwhile, Minister Choo officially announced at the Judiciary Committee the day before that the regular prosecution personnel reshuffle will be moved up by about a month and carried out in July. This reshuffle is expected to involve a mass demotion of senior officials and special prosecutors at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, known as the Yoon Seok-yeol faction, following the January reshuffle.

In particular, the reform recommendations on the prosecutor personnel system announced last month by the Ministry of Justice's Legal and Prosecution Reform Committee include a plan to appoint more than three-fifths of the chiefs of local prosecutors' offices or branch offices as prosecutors with experience in criminal or trial departments.

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