Won Hee-ryong: "Choo reminds me of leading 'Roh Moo-hyun impeachment'... Abuse of power and political self-harm"

On the 17th of last month, Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong is responding to questions during the 2nd regular session of the 389th Jeju Provincial Council. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-eun] On the 2nd, Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong criticized Justice Minister Chu Mi-ae, saying, "It reminds me of the time when she led the impeachment of President Roh Moo-hyun," and called it "an abuse of power and the pinnacle of political self-harm."

Governor Won stated, "In the future, Minister Chu will seek other ways to remove Prosecutor General Yoon," and criticized, "These actions undermine the neutrality of the prosecution and destroy the principle of checks and balances, which is the foundation of democracy."

He continued, "Ultimately, the court will play the role of the last bastion of democracy, and to have the court decide the final meaning of political controversies means that power is abused and politics does not function," adding, "If this situation persists, power will eventually try to engulf even the courts."

Governor Won said, "The Moon Jae-in administration's reform agenda is solely focused on prosecutorial reform," and added, "Strangely, the goal of the Moon administration's prosecutorial reform is not the political neutrality of the prosecution. Although they use the term democratic control, in reality, the power itself is trying to control the prosecution."

He further pointed out, "If the prospect of power shifting to the opposition after prosecutorial reform is frightening, then such reform is merely arbitrary control by those in power," and said, "It is somewhat fortunate that they have realized that the important issue is not the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), but how to control the power that operates it. If power is not controlled, the CIO will also become a target of oppression."

Governor Won added, "More frightening than carrying out such hypocritical political acts without hesitation is that they consistently engage in low-level politics by putting Minister Chu Mi-ae forward and openly talk about a '20-year reign theory,'" and said, "If Minister Chu, who abused power, is not dismissed and the situation is not properly resolved, this incident will become the prologue to a regime change. The people no longer want to see a regression of history and a decline of democracy."

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