청 "Ministry of Justice Investigation Directive Unavoidable... Investigation Without Sacred Areas" (Comprehensive)

Cheongwadae: "Regarding Ministry of Justice investigation supervision, Cheongwadae neither directed the minister nor received reports on exercising authority"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min] The Blue House has expressed the view that the exercise of investigative authority by Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae regarding the case related to Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol is seen as inevitable.

On the 20th, Blue House spokesperson Kang Min-seok stated at a Chuncheon briefing, "Regarding the investigative authority of the Minister of Justice, the Blue House neither instructed the Minister of Justice nor received reports on whether to exercise it," but added, "the exercise of investigative authority is regarded as inevitable."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

While explaining that Minister Chu's decision was not the result of instructions from the Blue House, weight was given to the judgment itself. The Blue House explained that this decision was made based on the necessity of a swift and impartial investigation without any sanctuary.

Previously, Minister Chu announced that she would exercise investigative authority to guarantee an independent investigation into the family and surrounding cases of Prosecutor General Yoon. The investigation team was instructed to conduct the investigation independently without supervision or direction from higher institutions such as the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and to report only the results to the Prosecutor General.

A key Blue House official said, "As the head of the executive branch, the President supervises and directs the government, but it is a principle not to intervene in specific cases to respect the autonomy and independence of investigations. The same applies to cases where the Minister of Justice has exercised investigative authority."

The key Blue House official added, "For a strict investigation without sanctuary, the Blue House has expressed its position to review and cooperate even with confidential materials if the prosecution requests investigation materials," and said, "Please understand that today's explanation from the Blue House was given under this principle."

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