Choo Mi-ae: "Excluding Yoon Seok-yeol's Command in Five Cases Including Lime and Prosecutor's Family Incident"... Investigation Command (Comprehensive)

Daegum States Acceptance of Investigation Command... "Prosecutor General Lost Investigation Command Authority in Lime Case"

Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae. / Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] On the 19th, Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae issued an investigative directive excluding Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol's authority over five cases, including the Lime Asset Management case recently embroiled in lobbying allegations and cases related to Prosecutor General Yoon's family.

The day before, the Ministry of Justice announced through a statement from prison that based on a three-day internal investigation of Kim Bong-hyun, former chairman of Star Mobility (46, detained and indicted), who exposed lobbying allegations involving opposition politicians and prosecutors, it was confirmed that "the prosecution investigation into the related allegations was not properly conducted," and that "apart from the internal investigation, the investigation subject and method are under review."

It was expected that Minister Chu would assign the related investigation to a separate investigation team or special prosecutor apart from the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, which is currently handling the investigation. However, considering the need for prompt investigation, Minister Chu chose to exclude Prosecutor General Yoon's investigative authority and remove prosecutors involved in the allegations from the investigation team, while assigning the investigation of the newly raised allegations to the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office.

Following the 'media-prosecution collusion' allegation case, Minister Chu's second exclusion of Prosecutor General Yoon's investigative authority is expected to deepen the conflict between the two. Depending on the investigation results, one side is likely to suffer a fatal blow.

On the same day, the Ministry of Justice stated, "Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae exercised investigative authority over the Lime lobbying allegations case and cases related to the Prosecutor General and his family and associates as follows," adding, "Considering that the Prosecutor General publicly declared that the Minister of Justice's investigative directive over cases involving close associates falls under 'formation rights,' it is understood that this investigative directive by the Minister of Justice takes immediate effect."

This means that, according to Minister Chu's investigative directive, Prosecutor General Yoon's investigative authority over the five cases included in the directive was immediately excluded.

The Ministry of Justice also added, "The Minister of Justice ordered the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office to exclude prosecutors and investigative officers implicated in lobbying allegations related to Lime Asset Management from the investigation and prosecution teams and to reorganize them anew, and also instructed the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office to strengthen the related investigation team for a swift and thorough investigation."

On the same day, Minister Chu sent an investigative directive titled 'Directive on the Lime Lobbying Allegations Case and Cases Related to the Prosecutor General's Family and Associates' to Prosecutor General Yoon.

In the directive, Minister Chu stated, "Regarding the recently raised 'Lime Asset Management' lobbying allegations case, ▲a lawyer formerly with the prosecution allegedly coerced and threatened the detained defendant by saying, 'To support Prosecutor General Yoon, it is not enough to have a Blue House administrative officer; you need to catch someone at the senior level. I will report to the Prosecutor General to allow bail for trial,' and the investigation team summoned the detained defendant 66 times, raising suspicions of a fabricated investigation; ▲the Prosecutor General allegedly directly involved himself in selecting the investigation team prosecutors and, despite receiving direct reports on specific misconduct by a prominent opposition politician who is a former chief prosecutor, failed to conduct a proper investigation unlike with ruling party figures, and omitted reports, thus not properly directing the case; ▲there were specific reports of entertainment and bribery involving active prosecutors and multiple prosecution officials, but related reports or investigations were entirely omitted, and a prosecutor who received entertainment led the investigation team," some of which have been partially confirmed as facts.

Minister Chu also pointed out, "Regarding allegations involving the Prosecutor General himself, his family, and close associates, ▲while serving as head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, the Prosecutor General's spouse allegedly received large sums of money as sponsorship from companies under investigation while hosting various exhibitions at Cobana Co., Ltd.; ▲there are allegations that the spouse was involved in stock price manipulation related to Deutsche Motors and preferential stock trading of Deutsche Financial; ▲there are allegations of covering up cases related to illegal medical institution establishment and fraudulent nursing care benefits involving the mother-in-law's nursing hospital operation; ▲there are allegations of covering up cases such as the dismissal of search warrants and non-prosecution related to the former Yongsan Tax Office chief's bribery case; multiple complaints and accusations have been filed and are under investigation, but the substance and truth of the cases have not been clarified for a long time, causing many citizens to express concerns about the fairness of the investigation."

Minister Chu continued, "Various allegations have been raised in the recently surfaced Lime Asset Management lobbying case and cases involving the Prosecutor General himself, his family, and close associates. Given that the Prosecutor General himself cannot completely exclude involvement in the Lime lobbying allegations, a fair and independent investigation is more necessary than ever," explaining the background of this investigative directive.

Minister Chu stated, "Furthermore, cases involving the Prosecutor General himself, his family, and close associates should be recused according to the 'Code of Ethics for Prosecutors' and the 'Code of Conduct for Prosecutorial Officials,' and it is appropriate to entrust the investigation team with conducting a thorough and independent investigation," adding, "For these reasons, pursuant to Article 8 of the Prosecution Service Act, I hereby issue the following directive."

Regarding the specific investigative directive, Minister Chu stated, "To ensure a fair and independent investigation into the following cases related to the Prosecutor General himself, his family, and close associates, including misconduct by prosecutors and politicians related to the Lime Asset Management case, the Prosecutor General is directed to ensure that the investigation teams at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office and Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office conduct investigations independently without supervision or direction from higher authorities such as the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and report only the results to the Prosecutor General."

The cases from which Minister Chu excluded Prosecutor General Yoon's investigative authority are ▲misconduct and case concealment allegations involving prosecutors and politicians related to the Lime Asset Management case and fabricated investigation suspicions ▲the case of receiving money under the name of sponsorship related to Cobana Co., Ltd. ▲allegations of stock price manipulation related to Deutsche Motors and preferential stock trading of Deutsche Financial ▲allegations of covering up cases related to illegal medical institution establishment and fraudulent nursing care benefits involving nursing hospital operations, and other investment-related complaints ▲the former Yongsan Tax Office chief bribery case and related allegations of covering up cases such as dismissal of search warrants and non-prosecution, totaling five cases.

Meanwhile, immediately after Minister Chu's investigative directive was made public, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office stated, "Due to today's Ministry of Justice action, the Prosecutor General can no longer direct the investigation of the Lime case," adding, "The investigation team should strictly recognize the prosecution's duty and thoroughly punish both the forces that committed the large-scale fund fraud and those who protected them, wiping away the victims' tears and meeting the public's expectations."

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