Choo Mi-ae, Restricting Prosecutor General's Actions with Special Activity Funds... Concerns Over Investigation Interference

Concerns Inside and Outside Prosecution Over Push for 'Special Activity Funds Directly Allocated to Ministry of Justice'
"It's a Statement of Aspiring to Become Prosecutor General... Frontline Prosecutors Forced to Report All Investigation Details"
"Contrary to Prosecution Reform Aiming for Independence and Neutrality"

Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae (left) and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The Ministry of Justice is pushing for a plan to directly allocate special activity funds to frontline prosecutors' offices, which is expected to cause a stir.

Until now, this money has been distributed by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. The prosecution uses special activity funds for crime information gathering and investigative activities. The fact that the Ministry of Justice would directly allocate these funds could effectively mean interference in prosecutorial investigations. This is why there are criticisms that it undermines the neutrality of the prosecution.

Although Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae's directive appears on the surface to be a measure to resolve issues related to special activity funds, many suspect it is intended to tie the hands of Prosecutor General Yoon.

According to members of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 10th, during an on-site verification of the Ministry of Justice and prosecution special activity funds held at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office the previous day, the Ministry of Justice reported in writing to the committee members that "following Minister Choo's directive, the Ministry of Justice will consider a plan to directly allocate prosecution special activity funds."

Special activity funds have been allocated by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office to each department or frontline prosecutors' office after being provided by the Ministry of Justice.

A Ministry of Justice official stated, "When receiving budgets from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the budgets for the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office are not separately allocated but are received by project. Considering the special nature of prosecutorial investigations, special activity funds have been sent to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and allocation has been delegated."

However, voices of concern are emerging inside and outside the prosecution regarding the Ministry of Justice's allocation of special activity funds.

A former senior official of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Mr. A, expressed concern, saying, "Frontline prosecutors' offices might have to report their investigative situations to the Ministry of Justice one by one, saying 'We need to collect this kind of information' in order to receive special activity funds. It is reasonable to suspect that the Ministry will allocate more special activity funds to prosecutors' offices handling investigations favored by the Minister."

Current prosecution official Mr. B also said, "It is unusual for the Ministry of Justice to manage the budget of an external agency. The National Police Agency also manages its budget independently from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. Among central administrative agencies, the prosecution is probably the only one without budget authority."

Another former prosecution official, Mr. C, pointed out, "This measure seems to indicate that the Minister of Justice intends to act as the 'Prosecutor General.' It means she wants to be involved not only in the regularly allocated special activity funds but also in those provided on an ad hoc basis, which goes completely against the reform direction of prosecutorial independence and neutrality."

In fact, when the Taxpayers' Federation requested disclosure of special activity fund usage details from government departments in 2015, the Ministry of Justice refused to disclose the information, citing concerns that revealing details such as crime information collection, investigation fields, purposes, content, and personnel involved would cause significant disruption to their work.

The Ministry of Justice used to receive special activity funds from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office after providing them, but recently it is reported that when providing funds to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, the Ministry has been deducting its own share beforehand. In relation to this, the Action Alliance for the Restoration of the Rule of Law (Beopse-ryeon) announced on the Supreme Prosecutors' Office website that they have filed a complaint against Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae and Ministry of Justice Prosecutor Bureau Director Shim Jae-cheol for embezzlement of public funds.

Beopse-ryeon stated, "Special activity funds must be strictly used within the purpose of the relevant institution, paid to the actual performers of special activities as needed. The Ministry of Justice arbitrarily diverting over 1 billion won from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's special activity funds to cover expenses unrelated to confidential information and case investigations, such as the Correction Headquarters, clearly constitutes embezzlement."

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