Autumn 'Control' 4 Times · Yoon 'Persuasion' 7 Times... The Leader's Message Contained in Words

- Choo Mi-ae, Minister of Justice, "If not controlled, it leads to abuse of power and human rights violations"
- Yoon Seok-yeol, Prosecutor General, "The prosecution system is a process of persuasion"

On the 3rd, Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae (right) and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl appeared respectively at the new prosecutor commissioning and reporting ceremonies.

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] Following the activation of investigative control authority by Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae last month, which escalated into an extreme confrontation, Justice Minister Choo and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl each repeatedly used the words 'control' and 'persuasion,' respectively, conveying different messages. The organizational management keywords presented by the heads of the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office suggest that Minister Choo is advocating for prosecutorial reform based on 'control,' while Prosecutor General Yoon is addressing the root causes of recent conflicts between the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and district prosecutors' offices.

According to the legal community on the 4th, both appeared at the new prosecutors' commissioning and reporting ceremonies the previous day. Although they avoided direct comments on current issues, they clearly expressed their determination to stabilize the shaken organization.

In a speech lasting just over 10 minutes, Minister Choo mentioned the word 'control' four times. She stated, "Prosecutors must faithfully fulfill their inherent role as human rights supervisors by controlling the legality of investigations," and pointed out, "If investigative and prosecutorial powers are exercised together without external checks and controls, issues of power abuse and human rights violations inevitably arise." This reflects her longstanding commitment since taking office to prosecutorial reform as an 'irreversible demand of the times' and to creating a prosecution system subject to democratic control.

The word 'reform' was also mentioned four times. She explained, "The reform of power institutions is a task of the era that embodies the people's aspirations," referring to the investigative authority reform promoted by the Ministry of Justice since January. Minister Choo evaluated, "This reform is dispersing the excessive powers concentrated in the prosecution, establishing mutual checks and balances between the prosecution and the police, and laying the foundation for a democratic criminal justice system." However, she added, "This does not mean the role of the prosecution is diminishing," emphasizing, "The prosecution still bears the heavy responsibility of investigating important crimes such as corruption, economic offenses, and elections, and controlling police investigations."

On the other hand, Prosecutor General Yoon delivered remarks that can be interpreted as a 'determined statement' with a strong tone. Addressing the new prosecutors who moved from Gwacheon to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-dong, he said, "The core value of the Constitution, liberal democracy, does not ignore equality and emphasize only freedom," adding, "It refers to true democracy that rejects dictatorship and totalitarianism disguised as democracy." He continued, "Liberal democracy is realized through the rule of law. Although laws are enacted based on representative democracy and majority rule, once enacted, laws must be applied and enforced equally to everyone." This can be seen as a determined statement from Prosecutor General Yoon, who has faced pressure to resign from the ruling party after investigating allegations of power-related corruption.

Notably, Prosecutor General Yoon, who personally refined his speech manuscript since last weekend, repeated the word 'persuasion' seven times during a slightly longer speech than Minister Choo's, conveying a message different from his earlier strong tone. He said, "The guidance from seniors and the prosecution's approval system is a process of persuasion and communication, not command and obedience," explaining, "One must persuade colleagues and superiors to make their ideas the will of the prosecution organization, persuade the courts to become the will of the state, and persuade investigation subjects and the public to gain empathy and universal legitimacy."

This is interpreted as pointing to the recent conflict between the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. Previously, during the investigation of the 'media collusion' allegations, there was a physical clash between Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeong Jin-woong of the Criminal Division 1 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and the suspect, Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon (Research Fellow at the Judicial Research and Training Institute), during the seizure of a mobile phone SIM card. Additionally, Seoul Central District Prosecutor Lee Sung-yoon has replaced weekly face-to-face reports to Prosecutor General Yoon every Wednesday with written reports for over a month.

Some interpret these remarks as targeting Minister Choo, who recently told Prosecutor General Yoon, "Do not disobey orders." Earlier, Minister Choo said regarding the Ministry of Justice's direct order to investigate a prosecutor in June, "(Prosecutor General Yoon) partially ignored my directive. According to the Prosecutors' Office Act, the minister can direct specific matters, and if directed, it must be followed."

A prosecution official explained, "Through a series of recent incidents, the message conveyed is that prosecutors should act through persuasion and resolve matters through communication," emphasizing, "Persuasion is the most important virtue and attitude for prosecutors."

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