Kwon Ik-wi: "No Jeon Hyun-hee Involvement in Chu Mi-ae Judgment... More Accurate Response Than During Cho Kuk"

Unusually Distributing Explanation Materials Daily Amid Opposition's Offensive
"Legal Interpretation Entirely Based on Judgment of Responsible Staff"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) reiterated its position on the 14th, responding to opposition parties who opposed the prosecution's investigation into Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae and her son Seo Mo, stating that there is "no job-related connection" between them. Unlike the case of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, where a conflict of interest was suspected, the ACRC claims that it made a more accurate and fair judgment after going through a fact-checking process. In response to opposition parties' attacks mentioning that Chairperson Jeon Hyun-hee is from the Democratic Party of Korea, the ACRC defended, saying, "Chairperson Jeon emphasized a non-partisan stance" and "the results were entirely determined by the working-level staff."

On the 16th, the ACRC released explanatory materials stating, "There is no difference in the authoritative interpretation regarding conflicts of interest between former Minister Cho and Minister Choo," and added, "In Minister Choo's case, unlike former Minister Cho's case where assumptions were made, the interpretation was based on a fact-checking process for a more accurate and fair interpretation."

The ACRC explained, "For a conflict of interest to apply, both private interests and job-relatedness must be met, and simply holding the position does not constitute a conflict of interest." It further stated, "If a family member, who is a private interest of the Minister of Justice, is the subject of a prosecution investigation, and the minister is involved in the investigation by giving specific investigative instructions or receiving reports, then there is job-relatedness, constituting a conflict of interest."

The ACRC said, "During former Minister Cho's tenure, his spouse, a private interest, was under prosecution investigation, so in principle, there could have been job-relatedness," but "at that time, the authoritative interpretation was made based on hypothetical situations without a fact-checking process regarding involvement in the investigation."

On the other hand, "In Minister Choo's case, since there was a possibility of job-relatedness when her child, a private interest, was under prosecution investigation during her tenure, an investigation procedure was conducted to determine involvement in the prosecution investigation," and "the prosecution confirmed that Minister Choo did not give specific investigative instructions or receive reports related to her child's investigation," the ACRC informed.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding opposition parties' claims that the ACRC's interpretation changed after Chairperson Jeon, a former ruling party politician, took office in June, the ACRC explained, "The ACRC's authoritative interpretation is entirely the result of the judgment of the responsible working-level staff," and added, "Since taking office, Chairperson Jeon has continuously emphasized that the ACRC, as an anti-corruption control tower, maintain a fair and strict stance without partisan bias."

It continued, "The interpretation of matters such as conflicts of interest and improper solicitation under the ACRC's jurisdictional laws is effectively the ACRC's final authoritative interpretation, so responsible and fair interpretation is necessary," and "In cases of specific and individual authoritative interpretations concerning particular individuals, if there is no minimum fact-checking procedure, there is a risk of false accusations, defamation, human rights violations, and distortion of facts, as well as unnecessary controversies due to ambiguous interpretations."

Im Yoon-joo, Director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau at the ACRC, said, "This authoritative interpretation on Minister Choo's conflict of interest was made after fact-checking to provide a more principled and accurate response, supplementing the controversy caused by former Minister Cho's interpretation, which was made without specific fact-checking," and added, "The Anti-Corruption Bureau will continue to play a strict and fair role without partisan bias."

The ACRC has been unusually releasing explanatory statements daily regarding the recent controversy surrounding the authoritative interpretation related to Minister Choo.

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