Choo Mi-ae Sends Letter Calling Jeong Seong-ho, Budget Committee Chair Who Criticized Her 'Response Attitude,' a 'Comrade'... "Embarrassed and Sorry"

"Obsessed with Finding the Thorn in the Ministry of Justice's Eye While Ignoring the Beam Stuck in the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Eye"

On the 12th, at the plenary meeting of the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts held at the National Assembly, Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae responds to a lawmaker's question.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae apologized to Jeong Seong-ho, chairman of the National Assembly Budget and Accounts Special Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, who had criticized her attitude during her responses at the committee, referring to him as a "Democratic Party comrade" through a post on Facebook.

She also expressed dissatisfaction with the opposition party members' inquiries regarding special activity expenses at the National Assembly Budget Committee.

On the evening of the 14th, Minister Choo posted a letter-style message on her Facebook starting with "To my dear comrade Jeong Seong-ho," saying, "I feel embarrassed and sorry that you were tired all day because of a single word. I fully sympathize with your regret that the budget monitoring activities did not receive attention and only noise was highlighted, and I also feel saddened by it," expressing her apologies to Representative Jeong.

Earlier, on the 12th at the National Assembly Budget Committee, during People Power Party member Park Hyung-soo's questioning about the Ministry of Justice's special activity expenses, Minister Choo responded by mentioning a past 'money envelope' incident instead of directly answering Park's question, which led to a reprimand from Chairman Jeong.

At that time, despite being a member of the ruling party, Chairman Jeong told Minister Choo, "Please answer the question. Do not say anything else, just listen to the question and answer," and "Please keep it proper," thereby sanctioning her.

Subsequently, on the 13th, Chairman Jeong posted on his Facebook, "I said just one word for smooth proceedings, but I am tired all day," revealing his fatigue toward Minister Choo.

After expressing his apologies to Chairman Jeong, Minister Choo immediately criticized the opposition party's questioning attitude at the National Assembly Budget Committee.

She said, "From my experience in National Assembly activities and my changed position as a cabinet member, I cannot deny that there are issues in our National Assembly that need correction," and "If the practice of shouting repeated questions at ministers without giving them a chance to respond, intimidating, and insulting them does not change, it will cause severe self-loathing and discomfort and political disgust among the watching public."

She also pointed out the opposition party's attitude regarding the recent controversy over on-site inspections of special activity expenses by the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

Minister Choo stated, "The era when tens of billions of won in special activity expenses could be used as petty cash without even post-reporting to supervisory agencies is already over," adding, "The public no longer tolerates it. Judiciary committee members went to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office for document verification but left without properly checking the materials."

She continued, "No matter how much the opposition party wants to protect the Prosecutor General and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, it is excessive," expressing strong dissatisfaction, saying, "They are obsessed with finding a thorn in the Ministry of Justice's eye while ignoring the beam in the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's eye."

She also mentioned her dissatisfaction with the opposition party raising as a budget review inquiry the issue of hamburgers given to juvenile detention center inmates during Lunar New Year, funded by employees' charity donations rather than taxes, saying, "I will just laugh it off," referring to recent opposition allegations at the National Assembly Budget Committee about Prosecutor General Shim Jae-cheol's encouragement money 'money envelope' suspicion and the special activity expense use for juvenile detention center hamburgers.

Finally, Minister Choo quoted a line from poet Do Jong-hwan, "There is no flower that blooms without shaking," and said, "Where is reform that happens without shaking? We are comrades of the Democratic Party who decided to walk this path together. Until we reach the end of this path, let us not doubt each other or let go of each other's hands. This is what I told comrades as party leader at the beginning of the administration," emphasizing to Chairman Jeong that she is a comrade from the same party working together for reform.

She added, "There may be misunderstandings between us, but please understand that they all come from a sincere desire for reform and accept them generously," urging Chairman Jeong.

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