Autumn-Yoon Conflict, 'Proxy War' in the National Assembly... "Need to Consider Independent Budget for the Prosecutor's Office"

Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, is attending the party strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 10th and delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy reporters Lee Ji-eun and Won Dara] As the conflict between Justice Minister Chu Mi-ae and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol deepens over the controversy surrounding special activity expenses (teukhwalbi), a proxy war has also emerged in the National Assembly. Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, emphasized the need to "consider measures to make the prosecution budget independent," while Kim Tae-nyeon, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized Prosecutor General Yoon, saying he is "touring the country like a campaign."

After the floor leaders' meeting at the National Assembly on the 10th, Floor Leader Joo told reporters, "It seems Minister Chu is trying everything she can to harass the prosecution," adding, "Among the affiliated agencies, the prosecution office is the only one whose budget is not independent. We need to consider whether to separate the prosecution office's budget from the Ministry of Justice." This came after media reports that Minister Chu was attempting to directly allocate special activity expenses to each district prosecutor's office.

Jeon Ju-hye, a People Power Party member of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, also appeared on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' that day, saying, "Minister Chu raised two suspicions: that 'Prosecutor General Yoon is not providing special activity expenses to the Central District Prosecutors' Office, causing difficulties for the investigation team,' and that 'Prosecutor General Yoon is using special activity expenses like petty cash.' These are completely unfounded." She added, "For a minister to make such remarks in the Judiciary Committee, some factual investigation should have been done. I think Minister Chu is very irresponsible."

Kim Ki-hyun, a People Power Party lawmaker, went further by calling for an investigation into the special activity expenses of the National Intelligence Service and the Blue House. On Facebook that day, he said, "Minister Chu has once again made a serious blunder. She used her authority over investigation and inspection to pressure Prosecutor General Yoon, then ordered an inquiry into special activity expenses, but upon inspection, no problems were found in their execution. It is time to form a special parliamentary committee to investigate illegal use of special activity expenses across the Ministry of Justice, prosecution, National Intelligence Service, and the Blue House, and to establish countermeasures."

Kim Tae-nyeon, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the party strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 10th and delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

On the other hand, Song Ki-heon, a Democratic Party member of the Judiciary Committee, said on MBC Radio, "I suspect that special activity expenses are sometimes used for department or agency operational costs rather than special investigation activities," adding, "This issue should be clearly addressed during the budget review process." This implies that special activity expenses could be cut during budget deliberations depending on the circumstances.

Floor Leader Kim criticized Prosecutor General Yoon at the floor leaders' meeting that day, saying, "The public is uncomfortable with the prosecution chief touring the country like a campaign to promote political messages," and, "He is resisting the people's demand for prosecution reform by conducting government policy investigations." This was in response to Prosecutor General Yoon's remarks during training for newly appointed deputy prosecutors, in which he criticized the ruling party with the message that "the owner of the prosecution is the people." Floor Leader Kim emphasized, "If the prosecution talks about being the people's prosecution, it must first undergo a thorough self-reflection and self-reform regarding abuse of power," and added, "The Democratic Party will complete prosecution reform, the greatest reform task of this era, regardless of any resistance."

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