Kim Woong, Chu Mi-ae's Harsh Criticism: "The Minister Ranked First in Public Demand for Resignation"

Choo "The Uncomfortable Truth Must Continue"
Prosecutors Criticize Following 'Targeting of Ordinary Prosecutors'

Kim Woong, a member of the People Power Party, is questioning Cho Myung-rae, Minister of Environment, during the National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee's audit of the Ministry of Environment and the Korea Meteorological Administration held on the morning of the 23rd of last month at the Government Complex Sejong in Sejong City. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suwan] Regarding Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae's statement that "uncomfortable truths must continue" directed at prosecutors who opposed her command, Kim Woong, a prosecutor-turned-lawmaker from the People Power Party, criticized, saying, "The 'uncomfortable truth' that must be truly recognized is that she herself is the top minister whom the public demands to resign."

On the 1st, Kim shared a poll article titled "Who is the public's pick for the top minister to resign? 'Choo Mi-ae'" on his Facebook, pointing out, "No matter how wildly the personnel and inspection rights are wielded like a mad plow, prosecutors who do not yield to injustice continue to emerge."

According to the poll article shared by Kim, the polling agency Data Research (DRC) surveyed 1,000 men and women aged 18 and over on the 26th of last month about the cabinet members they wish to see replaced. The top choice was Minister Choo, selected by 37% of respondents. Following her were Minister Kim Hyun-mi of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (13.3%) and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki (8.5%). (At a 95% confidence level with a ±3.1 percentage point margin of error)

Kim then declared, "Even if you surround yourself with pet political prosecutors, you cannot block the public's anger and spirit."

Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae is listening to the remarks of National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seok at the appointment ceremony of the nomination committee for the Chief of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the morning of the 30th of last month. Photo by Yonhap News

Meanwhile, earlier on the 29th of last month, Minister Choo publicly criticized Jeju District Prosecutor Lee Hwan-woo (43, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 39) by posting a link related to his criticism of her exercise of investigative command authority on Facebook, stating, "If you 'come out' like this, reform is the only answer."

At that time, Prosecutor Lee criticized on the prosecution's internal network, saying, "'Politicians are all the same' made me hate politics again. I feel that personnel rights, command rights, and inspection rights are being abused without hiding their purpose and intentions."

There was backlash among prosecutors over Minister Choo's so-called 'targeting.'

On the 29th of last month, Prosecutor Choi Jae-man (47, class 36) of the Chuncheon District Prosecutor's Office Criminal Division 1 posted a message titled "Regarding the Minister's SNS post" on the internal network criticizing it, and about 200 active prosecutors commented with remarks such as "I also come out," and "Is gagging prosecutors reform?" expressing their opposition to Minister Choo.

As these criticisms from prosecutors continued, on the 31st of last month, Minister Choo directly targeted the prosecutors by sharing a post by political commentator Kim Yong-min on her Facebook, stating, "'Uncomfortable truths' must continue. Until we face them without turning away. I did not realize it was this serious."

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