“Han Dong-hoon’s Direct Supervision Order Is Illegal”… Beopseoryeon Files Complaint Against Minister Chu Mi-ae for ‘Abuse of Authority’

On the 26th, Lee Jong-bae, the representative of the Action Alliance for Restoring the Rule of Law (right), came to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul, to submit a complaint accusing Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae of disclosing facts related to a suspect.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae has been accused of abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of rights in connection with her order for the Ministry of Justice to directly investigate Prosecutor General Han Dong-hoon, who is involved in the ongoing prosecution investigation into the alleged "prosecutor-media collusion."

The civic group Action Alliance for Establishing the Rule of Law (Beopse-ryeon) held a press conference on the 28th in front of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul, announcing that they would file an additional complaint against Minister Choo for abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of rights.

In the press release, Lee Jong-bae, the representative of Beopse-ryeon, stated, "The Ministry of Justice, following Minister Choo's order, announced that it would take personnel measures against Prosecutor General Han, who is involved in the so-called 'prosecutor-media collusion' case, and initiate a direct investigation based on Article 5-2 of the Ministry of Justice's Inspection Regulations, which allows the Minister of Justice to conduct direct inspections when fairness cannot be guaranteed by the prosecution's own investigation in cases attracting social attention."

He continued, "However, this violates the Ministry of Justice Ordinance (Article 1-3 of the Enforcement Rules of the Ministry of Justice and its Affiliated Agencies Organization Act), which states that 'inspections of public officials belonging to the prosecution office cannot be conducted for the purpose of investigation, prosecution, or trial,' and is therefore illegal. Accordingly, Minister Choo's order for a direct investigation constitutes an abuse and excess of discretion, forcing Ministry of Justice employees to perform duties they are not obligated to do. Thus, Beopse-ryeon is filing a criminal complaint against Minister Choo for abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of rights," he explained the grounds for the complaint.

Lee added, "Since the results of the Ministry of Justice's inspection could significantly affect investigation, prosecution, and trial, Minister Choo's order clearly has the purpose of interfering with investigation, prosecution, and trial. Therefore, the very act of ordering an inspection related to the ongoing prosecutor-media collusion case is illegal and improper. This clearly constitutes an unlawful exercise of authority and amounts to abuse of power," he said.

He further pointed out, "The Ministry of Justice claims that 'the inspection of Prosecutor General Han should be seen as a direct investigation into the prosecutor-media collusion allegations, separate from the case where an unidentified prosecutor general was reported for intimidation,' but this is merely a petty excuse. Since inspecting the prosecutor-media collusion allegations inevitably involves inspecting Prosecutor Han, Minister Choo's order remains illegal," he criticized.

Lee concluded, "Minister Choo has abused her authority, threatening the independence of the prosecution and distorting the facts of the case with political logic, thereby disrupting judicial order. We strongly urge the investigative authorities to thoroughly investigate Minister Choo's abuse of authority charges and impose severe punishment," he added.

Earlier, Beopse-ryeon had filed a complaint with the prosecution on the 26th against Minister Choo for disclosing information about an ongoing investigation, after she appeared before the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 18th and mentioned the charges against Channel A reporter Lee in response to questions from Kim Yong-min, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, regarding the "prosecutor-media collusion" case, referring to it as "the gist of the known facts of the suspect."

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