[Comprehensive] "I Don't Remember" Novel Becomes 'Full-Length Novel'... Choo Mi-ae Clarifies Allegations

Choo: "Son Allegations Are Absurd... Like a Full-Length Novel"
Opposition: "27 Lies" Criticized... Choo: "They Yelled at Me 27 Times"

Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae is responding to questions during the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit of the Ministry of Justice held on the 12th in Yeouido, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] On the 12th, Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae engaged in a heated exchange with opposition lawmakers who repeatedly raised issues regarding preferential treatment during military leave for her son, Seo Mo (27), saying, "Are you trying to write a novel, not just end with a short story, but a full-length novel?"

Earlier, Minister Choo had attributed responsibility to the opposition and conservative media regarding the related allegations and the prosecution's decision not to indict, calling it "a behavior of piecing together a few answers persistently extracted from me in the National Assembly chamber and framing it as lies."

At the Ministry of Justice's National Assembly inspection by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee that day, Jeon Ju-hye of the People Power Party asked Minister Choo, "Do you intend to apologize for giving false testimony during the government questioning?"

Minister Choo responded, "I did not give false testimony. I did not violate any laws or make any improper requests or orders." During the previous government questioning session in the National Assembly, she had denied the related allegations, stating that she was "too busy as a mother to even pay attention" and that due to the busy period of regime change and transition, she was not in a position to instruct her aides.

Regarding the part where she directly sent a text message with the contact information of the support officer who received inquiries about her son's sick leave extension from her aide, Minister Choo replied, "The fact that such a message exists on KakaoTalk is only known because the phone was forensically examined; I do not remember it."

She further argued, "If someone knew the support officer, if it was sent as an instruction, the number would be labeled 'support officer' or 'captain,' not with the honorific 'nim' (님),"

Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae appeared at the National Assembly Judiciary Committee's audit of the Ministry of Justice and other agencies on the 12th, responding to questions from lawmakers. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

In the afternoon inspection, as questioning about her son's allegations continued, Minister Choo criticized, "This is a simple case that cannot be illegal," adding, "Considering the nine-month saga amplified by the media and the opposition, it's absurd. It's not just a short story ending as a short story; I think they really tried to write a full-length novel."

When Yoon Han-hong of the People Power Party raised his voice, saying, "Whether guilty or innocent is for the prosecutor to interpret, but the lies the minister told in the National Assembly cannot be turned into truth by the prosecutor," and "How strong-hearted and shameless must one be? There were 27 lies in September alone," Minister Choo retorted, "They pressured me 27 times."

Minister Choo has repeatedly stated during confirmation hearings and government questioning sessions in the National Assembly that she "did not intervene in her son's leave processing" and "never instructed aides to make phone calls."

However, controversy arose when the prosecution announced at the end of last month that while the preferential treatment allegations were dismissed, they confirmed that Minister Choo sent a text message containing the name and phone number of the support officer from her son's unit to her aide.

Nonetheless, Minister Choo clarified that the messages exchanged with her aide regarding her son's leave were not "instructions," and claimed that the "false explanation" controversy was a frame created by piecing together her statements.

In a post on her Facebook on the 2nd, she stated, "Although the prosecution's investigation concluded with no charges, the opposition and conservative media are framing this with lies that deviate from the essence," criticizing, "The opposition and conservative media have persistently distorted this case as if there was any improper request, pressure, or preferential treatment through me."

She continued, "Before the prosecution's investigation results came out, they misled public opinion with baseless stories such as 'pressure was applied through aides,' 'a woman called the Ministry of National Defense's civil affairs office with her husband's name registered,' 'at the training camp graduation ceremony, the husband and a 90-year-old mother were made to stand and were instructed not to request unit assignments,' and 'it's desertion; an unknown officer came and ordered the leave extension.' However, this investigation clearly revealed these as 'lies by the opposition and conservative media.'"

Minister Choo also emphasized, "This case could never have involved improper requests or pressure from the start," explaining, "The sick leave and annual leave of my son, which some have raised issues about, are all 'basic rights of soldiers' guaranteed to any soldier in the Republic of Korea and were conducted 'lawfully' within that scope."

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