Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol Proposes Formation of 'Independent Investigation Unit'... Minister Chu Mi-ae Accepts or Rejects 'Investigation Command'?

Including the current investigation team at Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office
Only investigation results reported to the Prosecutor General

Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol is commuting by car to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 8th. Meanwhile, Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae reiterated on the 7th that it is inappropriate for Prosecutor General Yoon to lead the investigation into the alleged collusion between prosecutors and media, urging him to accept the investigation command. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] On the 8th, Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol proposed the formation of an independent investigation headquarters that includes the current Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office investigation team regarding the 'media collusion' case, in response to Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae's investigation directive. This comes six days after Minister Chu issued the directive.

There appears to be some controversy over whether Prosecutor General Yoon's proposal literally follows Minister Chu's directive to "guarantee the independent investigation of the existing investigation team." However, since the Ministry of Justice previously declared it would consider the appointment of a special prosecutor as 'non-compliance with orders' and instead proposed the formation of an investigation headquarters including the existing investigation team, and also stated it would not directly command the investigation, it can be seen as largely accepting Minister Chu's directive.

Therefore, depending on how Minister Chu responds to Prosecutor General Yoon's proposal to form an 'investigation headquarters,' it is expected that the conflict between the Ministry of Justice and the prosecution will either be resolved or escalate to a climax.

On the afternoon of the same day, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office stated, "The Prosecutor General respects the directive of the Minister of Justice and, considering opinions inside and outside the prosecution, proposed to the Minister of Justice that the head of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office form an independent investigation headquarters including the current Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office investigation team to thoroughly clarify the facts of the entire Channel A-related case. This investigation headquarters will conduct a fair and strict investigation without receiving direct command from the Prosecutor General, reporting only the investigation results to the Prosecutor General."

Prosecutor General Yoon chose to entrust the investigation command to the head of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-dae), the superior institution of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, where the investigation is currently underway. This reflects Yoon's distrust of Lee Sung-yoon, head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.

Prosecutor General Yoon proposed not to command the investigation but only to receive reports on the investigation results. This appears to accept Minister Chu's directive to guarantee the independence of the investigation team.

Earlier, on the 2nd, Minister Chu instructed Prosecutor General Yoon to halt the procedure of the expert investigation advisory group that was assessing the appropriateness of the media collusion suspicion investigation and to guarantee the independence of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office investigation team.

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