Minister Choo Mi-ae's Final Ultimatum to Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol: "Decide Within 24 Hours"

Minister Chu's Determination to "Go Straight" at the Mountain Temple... Continuing Pressure on Prosecutor General Yoon
Yoon Seok-yeol Prepares Final Decision, Skipping Wednesday's 'Weekly Report'

Screenshot of Choo Mi-ae, Minister of Justice's Facebook.

[Asia Economy Reporters Seokjin Choi, Hyungmin Kim] The atmosphere of tension between the Ministry of Justice and the prosecution is intensifying as Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae has notified Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol to decide within 24 hours whether to comply with the investigation directive.

Since the correct answer of "follow the instructions as directed" has already been conveyed several times, the options available to Prosecutor General Yoon are limited. It is reported that Yoon is considering a "compromise plan" that generally follows the minister's orders while reflecting voices within the prosecution. Meanwhile, Minister Choo's final ultimatum can be interpreted as a message to choose either "full acceptance" or "resignation."

On the morning of the 8th at 10 a.m., Minister Choo stated through the Ministry of Justice, "We will wait one more day until 10 a.m. on the 9th. We await the wise judgment of the Prosecutor General," giving a 24-hour deadline. Although she urged decisiveness without hesitation the day before, this time she set a deadline, making it clear that this is the "final notice."

Minister Choo said, "It has already been a week since the investigation directive on the 2nd. The public is very frustrated. We all must do our best in our given roles while looking toward the future of the Republic of Korea."

An hour before this notice was issued, Minister Choo posted a similar message on her Facebook. Taking a two-day leave, she uploaded a photo of her back gazing into the distance at a mountain temple, saying, "With the birchwood rosary given by a monk, I cut off my worries and embrace the morning energy. No matter how many times I ponder, my thoughts only dwell on not turning away from the right path." This can be seen as reaffirming her firm stance on the investigation directive from the previous day and indicating once again that she has no intention of compromising with the prosecution.

Meanwhile, on the same day, Prosecutor General Yoon decided to replace the weekly Wednesday briefing of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office with a written report, continuing his final deliberations. A senior official at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office said, "The Prosecutor General is still considering the matter," adding, "In any case, the basic position of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office is that the Channel A-related investigation must be conducted fairly and strictly."

After concluding a series of meetings with chief prosecutors last Friday, Prosecutor General Yoon was expected to finalize and announce his position by the weekend at the earliest or early this week at the latest. However, as of the morning of this day, six days after Minister Choo's investigation directive and five days after the chief prosecutors' meeting, he is still deliberating. This can be seen as evidence that Prosecutor General Yoon does not have many suitable options to choose from.

Currently, it is highly anticipated that Prosecutor General Yoon will propose a compromise plan that recommends the appointment of a "third special prosecutor" for a fair investigation while reflecting Minister Choo's investigation directive by retaining a significant portion of the current Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office investigation team.

Rather than simply requesting a "re-instruction" or expressing a position of "non-acceptance" of the directive, which would appear as insubordination, creating a situation where a third party responsible for controlling the Central District Prosecutors' Office investigation team?accused of biased investigation?can take charge of the investigation seems to be the only option to avoid a direct confrontation with Minister Choo. However, Minister Choo's repeated messages indicate "do not suggest detours," making even this option unsuitable.

Another alternative is to file a constitutional complaint with the Constitutional Court to determine the legality of the investigation directive. However, since the Constitutional Court's decision takes considerable time, this option is not considered highly likely.

The day before, there was also a dispute within the prosecution regarding the fairness of the current investigation team. When Chief Prosecutor Jeong Hee-do of Cheongju District Prosecutors' Office posted a public inquiry on the prosecution's internal network, Eprose, stating, "Many frontline prosecutors view the current investigation team as conducting unfair and biased investigations," Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeong Jin-woong of the Criminal Division 1 at Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office responded directly.

Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeong Jin-woong posted an article titled "A Letter Regarding the Investigation of the Channel A-MBC Report Related Case," stating, "We are conducting an impartial investigation under the direction of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and have already secured numerous important pieces of evidence, approaching the substantive truth." This unusual disclosure of the investigation team's position is interpreted as a response to the growing doubts about the team's fairness ahead of Prosecutor General Yoon's final decision.

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