Only Seeing What They Want: Ruling and Opposition Parties... Additional Verification of Special Activity Funds by Ministry of Justice and Supreme Prosecutors' Office

Concerns Over Ineffective Verification Amidst Ruling and Opposition Disputes... Ministry of Justice and Supreme Prosecutors' Office Oppose Further Disclosure

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, which reviewed the special activity expense spending details of the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, decided to request additional data submissions from both agencies. Although the intention is that a single investigation is insufficient to grasp the full facts, controversy is expected as both the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office have expressed difficulty in further disclosure.

On the 10th, the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office began reviewing whether to disclose the additional data requested by lawmakers during the on-site investigation of special activity expenses by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee the previous day. Lawmakers requested detailed execution data during the on-site investigation, and after discussions over two days on the 10th and 11th, they decided to narrow down the additional data to be requested. A staff member from an opposition lawmaker's office in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee explained, "Since the ruling and opposition parties interpret the sincerity of the data submitted by the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office differently, it would be sufficient to verify the special activity expense allocation and flow by confirming documents under the same conditions."

It is also known that some opposition lawmakers' offices will request the 'Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Special Activity Expense Ledger.' This document contains information on when and how much special activity expenses the Central District Prosecutors' Office received from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and to which departments the funds were subsequently distributed, making it a key document that could effectively conclude the current controversy. Previously, Minister Chu sparked conflict by mentioning at the National Assembly on the 5th that "there has been no recent payment of special activity expenses from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office to the Central District Prosecutors' Office, causing difficulties for the investigation team."

In response, ruling and opposition lawmakers of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee agreed to discuss the additional requests to the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and future investigation plans during the Budget and Accounts Subcommittee meetings held over two days starting on the 10th. This information will also be notified separately to the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

However, the Ministry of Justice strongly maintains that further disclosure of data is difficult. Since they have already exchanged 'verification plans' with lawmakers and completed coordination on the scope of disclosure, they argue it is hard to consider additional data submission as mandatory. It is also known that there is considerable opposition within the prosecution. Even the 'Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Special Activity Expense Ledger' could raise political bias issues if the allocation amounts by department are disclosed. A legal expert expressed concern, saying, "Even for the cases currently handled by the Central District Prosecutors' Office, there are significant matters directly involving Blue House officials, Minister Chu, and Prosecutor General Yoon, so there is a high possibility that the allocation amounts could be interpreted as a measure of investigation importance."

The standoff between the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office also foreshadows difficulties in additional verification work. The Ministry of Justice received criticism from opposition lawmakers for responding to additional data requests by saying, "We will only disclose up to the level that the Supreme Prosecutors' Office does." Furthermore, after the verification work concluded that day, the Ministry of Justice drew a line by stating, "Minister Chu reported that, unlike previous years, he has neither received nor used prosecution special activity expenses," and "It was confirmed through document verification and Q&A with the Legislation and Judiciary Committee members that there are no issues." The Supreme Prosecutors' Office also maintains its position that "special activity expenses were executed legally and according to procedures, and all supporting evidence exists."

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