Beopseoryeon, "Minister Choo Mi-ae's Investigation Directive Violates the Prosecutors' Office Act" Additional Report on Abuse of Authority Charges

Representative Lee Jong-bae (right) of the Rule of Law Restoration Action Alliance is seen coming out of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul, to submit a complaint accusing Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae of abuse of authority.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] A civic group that previously filed complaints against Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae for the ‘media-prosecutor collusion’ case, accusing her of disclosing investigation details, abuse of authority, and defamation, has submitted an additional complaint claiming that her recent investigative directives constitute abuse of power.

On the 6th, Lee Jong-bae, representative of the Action Alliance for Restoring the Rule of Law (Beopse-ryeon), held a press conference before submitting a complaint against Minister Choo for abuse of authority at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul. He stated, “The investigative directive issued by Minister Choo on the 2nd regarding the attempted coercion case involving prosecutors and journalists violates the Prosecutors’ Office Act and obstructs the legitimate exercise of the Prosecutor General’s rights, making it illegal,” and added, “Beopse-ryeon is filing a criminal complaint against Minister Choo under Article 123 of the Criminal Act for abuse of authority and obstruction of rights.”

Beopse-ryeon argued, “Minister Choo’s investigative directive directly violates Article 12, Paragraph 2 of the Prosecutors’ Office Act, which states that ‘The Prosecutor General oversees prosecutorial affairs and directs and supervises the officials of the Prosecutors’ Office,’ as well as Article 8, which states that ‘The Minister of Justice is the highest supervisor of prosecutorial affairs and generally directs and supervises prosecutors, but only the Prosecutor General may be directed and supervised regarding specific cases,’ and Article 7, which states that ‘Prosecutors shall follow the direction and supervision of their superior officers regarding prosecutorial affairs.’”

Beopse-ryeon added, “Minister Choo’s instruction that the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office investigation team should not be subject to the direction and supervision of higher authorities such as the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office effectively deprived the Prosecutor General of his investigative directive authority, and as a result, it constitutes illegal direction and supervision of ‘line prosecutors’ in specific cases.”

Finally, Beopse-ryeon stated, “Furthermore, since the convening of the Expert Investigation Advisory Panel falls within the scope of the Prosecutor General’s duties and is not subject to the Minister of Justice’s investigative directives, the order to suspend the convening of the Expert Investigation Advisory Panel clearly constitutes an illegal abuse of discretion.”

They continued, “The Minister of Justice’s investigative directives to the Prosecutor General must be exercised lawfully in accordance with the Constitution and laws. Minister Choo’s clear abuse and overstepping of discretion in issuing illegal orders is a serious criminal act that infringes upon the independence and neutrality of the prosecution. Therefore, we strongly urge the investigative authorities to thoroughly investigate Minister Choo’s abuse of authority charges and impose severe punishment.”

Previously, on the 26th of last month, Beopse-ryeon filed a complaint alleging that Minister Choo’s statements in the National Assembly regarding the media-prosecutor collusion investigation constituted disclosure of investigation details. On the 28th, they submitted a complaint accusing her of abuse of authority for ordering a direct inspection of Prosecutor General Han Dong-hoon by the Ministry of Justice, claiming it was an overstepping of ministerial discretion.

Additionally, on the 1st, they submitted an additional complaint alleging that a post Minister Choo made on her Facebook on the 27th of last month constituted defamation against Channel A reporter Lee Dong-jae and Prosecutor General Han.

All these cases are currently assigned to the Criminal Division 1 (Chief Prosecutor Jo Jin-woong) of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office and are under investigation.

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