[2020 National Audit] Yoon Strikes Back... "Slander Is the Most Polite Word I Can Use"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] On the 22nd, Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol appeared at the National Assembly audit and stated, "(Park Soon-cheol, head of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, who is leading the Lime scandal investigation) has submitted his resignation," directly confronting various political controversies surrounding the case. Park submitted his resignation statement on the internal communication network five minutes before the audit began, saying "politics has overshadowed the prosecution." Yoon mentioning this at the beginning of the audit is interpreted as a rejection of criticism from some quarters that he was passive in investigating the opposition party, and as an emphasis that the actions taken by Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae, who exercised investigative authority based on this, were unjust.

During the morning session of the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Yoon rebutted Minister Chu's criticism of inadequate investigation by saying, "After the Lime default incident broke out and manpower was insufficient, I ordered a thorough investigation in February and subsequently strengthened the investigative personnel." He added, "So far, 50 people have been indicted and 30 have been detained and indicted. The investigation is substantial, and I understand that the Southern District Prosecutors' Office investigation team, led by Park Soon-cheol, worked closely together."

When asked about his remark calling Minister Chu's accusations "slander," Yoon said, "It is the most polite word I can use." Responding to Minister Chu's harsh expressions, including calling the Supreme Prosecutors' Office "deceiving the people," he said, "They are not based on any facts at all." Yoon stated, "I instructed the prosecutors to report directly to the chief prosecutors to avoid future criticism and to conduct thorough investigations since these issues could arise during the autumn audit." He also revealed, "When I received reports of prosecutors being entertained, I called the head of the Southern District Prosecutors' Office within 10 minutes and ordered him to identify those who were entertained." He continued with a resolute statement, "I cannot understand on what grounds it was announced that the Prosecutor General was also involved in inadequate investigations."

Yoon also disclosed his thoughts on the personnel conflicts between the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. Regarding the recent personnel appointments, he said, "There has never been a case where personnel plans were fully prepared and then appointments were made in that manner," and "There was no substantial consultation process with the Supreme Prosecutors' Office." He added, "When I was asked to draft a preliminary plan, I said, 'Minister, the prosecution bureau should at least provide a basic plan for me to work on,' and was told, 'Since the appointing authority is the President, the personnel plan is with the Blue House. I was asked to send it after giving opinions.'" This confirms that the personnel appointments proceeded entirely without Yoon's consent. In fact, the Ministry of Justice was suspected of favoring prosecutors from the criminal and trial departments in this year's appointments and demoting many special investigation prosecutors. During this process, there were also criticisms that the Ministry of Justice made appointments unilaterally without consulting Prosecutor General Yoon.

Although Yoon had been in seclusion after turning his back on the current administration following the investigation into corruption allegations against former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk's family, he actively expressed his stance on overall current issues during this audit.

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