Reviewing 5 Cases of Investigation Command Activation... All Related to Yoon Seok-yeol's Family and Close Associates

Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae (left in the photo) and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The cases in which Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae exercised her investigative command authority on the 19th to exclude Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol from command amount to a total of five.

First, the direct trigger for this exercise of investigative command authority included the Lime Asset Management lobbying and fabricated investigation allegations. Previously, former Star Mobility Chairman Kim Bong-hyun exposed political and prosecutorial lobbying through a 'prison letter.' Minister Choo cited the parts related to Prosecutor General Yoon from the 'prison letter' disclosed by former Chairman Kim as grounds for directing the investigation into the Lime case.

The remaining cases all involve allegations related to Prosecutor General Yoon's family and close associates. Among these, two cases are related to Yoon's wife, Kim Geon-hee. These include allegations of bribery under the pretext of sponsorship funds related to Kobana Contents and stock price manipulation and preferential stock trading in Deutsche Motors. There are also suspicions that Yoon's mother-in-law, Choi, was not properly punished for violating medical laws. It is claimed that although Choi lent her name and was appointed as the inaugural co-chairman during the illegal establishment of a for-profit medical institution, only Choi was not prosecuted. The investigative command authority also covers allegations of covering up bribery charges involving Yoon Dae-jin, Deputy Director of the Judicial Research and Training Institute (Chief Prosecutor), and his elder brother Yoon Woo-jin, former head of Yongsan Tax Office. Prosecutor General Yoon and Prosecutor Yoon Dae-jin are known to be extremely close, often referred to as 'Dae Yoon' (Big Yoon) and 'So Yoon' (Little Yoon).

The cases related to Prosecutor General Yoon's family and close associates, which Minister Choo cited as grounds for exercising investigative command authority, were also mentioned during last year's confirmation hearing for the Prosecutor General candidate. The Supreme Prosecutors' Office explained through some media outlets that Prosecutor General Yoon has already refrained from directing investigations into allegations related to himself, so the exercise of investigative command authority would not change anything.

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