Choo Mi-ae on Prosecution's 'I Also Come Out'... "Uncomfortable Truths Must Continue"

Cho Kuk Publicly Criticizes Prosecutors "Why Were You Silent During MB and Kim Hak-ui?"
"Coming-Out Prosecutors, Resign" Blue House Petition Surpasses 270,000 Supporters

Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae listens to the remarks of National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seok at the appointment ceremony for the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency chief candidate recommendation committee held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the morning of the 30th of last month.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] As the conflict between prosecutors and Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae escalates, with over 230 frontline prosecutors posting supportive comments on a prosecutor's post criticizing her, Minister Choo reiterated her criticism on the 31st of last month, saying, "Uncomfortable truths must continue," and "I did not realize it was this serious."

On the 29th of last month, Minister Choo introduced a past article about human rights violation controversies involving Lee Hwan-woo (43, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 39), a prosecutor at Jeju District Prosecutors' Office who had criticized her, writing, "Good. If you come out like this, reform is the only answer."

In response, Choi Jae-man (48, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 36), a prosecutor at Chuncheon District Prosecutors' Office, posted on the prosecutors' internal network, "I share the same thoughts as Prosecutor Lee Hwan-woo, so I am also coming out," countering her remarks.

In his post, he pointed out, "Minister, I cannot help but ask if you think pressuring prosecutors who do not comply with government and Ministry of Justice policies or who do not handle cases in the desired direction to resign is what prosecutorial reform means."

The post supporting Prosecutor Lee by Prosecutor Choi received over 230 comments. One prosecutor expressed agreement in a comment, saying, "If it is a whip for the country and the people, I will endure the pain," but also added, "Even if I think it is wrong, following it also feels like a greater mistake."

Photo by Cheongwadae National Petition Board capture

On the other hand, some figures in the ruling party defended Minister Choo. Former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk criticized on his Facebook on the 1st, saying, "Why was there silence about the no charges against candidate Lee Myung-bak and Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui?" and "Why is 'prosecutorial chaos' only mentioned regarding non-prosecutor Ministers of Justice appointed during the Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in administrations?"

In particular, a Blue House public petition titled "Accept the Resignations of Coming-Out Prosecutors!" posted on the 30th of last month received over 200,000 endorsements within two days.

The petitioner wrote, "The politician chief prosecutor is ruining the prosecution by covering it with politics," and "The political prosecution, which should be reflecting and restraining itself, has now openly started politics." They added, "The start of prosecutorial reform begins with accepting the resignations of coming-out prosecutors," and concluded, "Let's go for prosecutorial reform, the starting point for clearing out deep-rooted evils in the Republic of Korea."

As of 7:15 a.m. on the 2nd, the petition had received about 274,500 endorsements. The Blue House provides official responses to petitions that receive more than 200,000 endorsements through responsible secretaries or relevant ministers and vice ministers.

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