Pressure Rises from Chu, Unity Strengthened by Yoon... Tension Mounts Over Prosecutor General Yoon's Face-to-Face Investigation Retry

Ministry of Justice Likely to Retry Failed In-Person Investigation
Speeding Up Investigation and Inspection Related to Prosecutor General Yoon
Yoon Continues Meetings with Frontline Prosecutors... Possible Messages Regarding Inspection

Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae (left) and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy reporters Seokjin Choi and Kyunghwan Bae] As the Ministry of Justice's Inspection Department is expected to attempt again this week the face-to-face investigation of Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol that failed last week, Yoon appears to be focusing on strengthening internal cohesion by expanding skinship with frontline prosecutors.

According to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on the 23rd, Yoon will attend a 'Lunch Meeting on Trial-Centered Investigation Structure' starting at noon to discuss the new investigation structure with prosecutors. At this meeting, Yoon may send a message regarding Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae's intention to 'push forward the inspection' hinted at last weekend.

Starting with strengthening leadership among chief prosecutors at the Jincheon Judicial Research and Training Institute on the 3rd, Yoon held leadership meetings for deputy chief prosecutors on the 9th and a meeting related to the protection of socially vulnerable groups on the 17th. These moves are interpreted as a strategy to stabilize the prosecution organization by showing resilience against calls for resignation from some quarters.

Meanwhile, investigations and inspections related to Yoon, ordered by Minister Choo, are progressing rapidly on both sides.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, which completed the summons investigation of Yoon's mother-in-law Choi two weeks ago, accelerated the investigation last week by conducting a search and seizure at a golf course where the older brother of Yoon Dae-jin, deputy director of the Judicial Research and Training Institute and considered a close aide of Yoon, was entertained.

Since most of the cases directed by Minister Choo for investigation had already undergone one round of prosecution investigation, it is anticipated that one or two cases may reach a conclusion as early as this month.

Currently, the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Inspection Department are conducting inspections or fact-finding investigations on several matters related to Yoon under Minister Choo's orders, including ▲the suppression of investigations into prosecutors and opposition politicians' lobbying during the Lime investigation ▲the inadequate investigation of Optimus requested by the Korea Communications Agency ▲meetings with media company owners ▲use of special activity funds by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office ▲and the process of requesting the exclusion of Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeong Jin-woong from duty.

In particular, regarding the suspicion of suppressing the Optimus investigation, the Ministry of Justice Inspection Department recently confirmed that they checked the entry records of lawyers into Yoon's office when he was serving as the head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.

In the legal community, many opinions hold that Minister Choo's inspection orders and prior investigation directives themselves are inappropriate, but if any evidence of Yoon's improper conduct emerges in any of the nearly ten investigation or inspection cases, it is highly likely to lead immediately to pressure for his resignation.

Also, if the Ministry of Justice conducts another face-to-face investigation of Yoon this week and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office repeatedly states a 'non-acceptance' position, there is a possibility that 'refusal to cooperate with inspection' will be added to the inspection matters concerning Yoon.

Minister Choo recently posted on her Facebook account, "The audit of the Prosecutor General's special activity funds is a legitimate duty performed by the minister who holds budgetary guidance and supervision authority," adding, "It is very aggressive and emotional to blatantly label this as nitpicking over the Prosecutor General's special activity funds."

This statement is interpreted as reaffirming the legitimacy of her inspection order regarding Yoon's use of special activity funds and expressing her intention to continue the face-to-face investigation.

Meanwhile, ahead of the seminar titled 'Rule of Law in Crisis: Diagnosis and Solutions' held this afternoon at the Gwanhun Club in Seoul, lawyer Kim Jong-min of Dongin Law Firm pointed out in a pre-distributed presentation, "Since Minister Choo's inauguration, the prosecution personnel appointments, organizational restructuring, exercise of inspection authority, and overt attempts to target Prosecutor General Yoon leave no doubt that prosecution reform is merely a pretense for undermining the prosecution."

Kim also criticized Minister Choo's abuse of inspection authority, stating, "The most frequent case of the Ministry of Justice minister exercising prosecution command over specific cases was Nazi Germany during World War II," and "The inspection authority of the Ministry of Justice can be abused by political power to interfere in prosecution investigations, and inspecting the Prosecutor General and prosecutors, whose status is guaranteed under the Prosecutors' Office Act, based on subordinate regulations such as the Ministry of Justice inspection regulations poses many legal system problems."

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