Hong Ik-pyo: "Don't Reduce It to a Personal Conflict Between Chu and Yoon... Prosecutorial Power Is Important"

Hong Ik-pyo, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea (Director of the Democratic Research Institute), is giving a greeting at the party and economic sector policy meeting on the Fair Economy 3 Laws held on the 15th of last month at the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-eun] On the 3rd, Hong Ik-pyo, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, said, "This incident should not be framed as a personal conflict with Chu Mi-ae or Yoon Seok-yeol," and added, "We need to look at how to deal with prosecutorial power."

On the same day, during KBS Radio's 'Kim Kyung-rae's Strongest Current Affairs' in the morning, Rep. Hong said, "Isn't the prosecution using the pretext of independence to maintain their vested interests and the powerful monopoly of prosecutorial indictment and investigation rights?" He added, "Among the various reform processes related to the prosecution, how to overcome the prosecution's resistance is an important issue."

He continued, "We need to determine whether there is urgency to suspend duties or if there are concerns about public interest damage resulting from it," and said, "I believe the conclusion will be reached based on disciplinary procedures rather than suspension of duties and the trial results of the related criminal complaint case." At the same time, Rep. Hong asserted, "Not all issues raised against Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol have been absolved."

He went on, "There are various discussions about Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol's political neutrality, but we need to consider the meaning of his name being mentioned as a presidential candidate of the opposition and currently emerging as a leading candidate," and said, "We can judge by observing the Ministry of Justice's disciplinary committee's decision and the investigation into Prosecutor General Yoon, including how to view his meeting with conservative media owners."

Regarding the disciplinary committee, he also commented on the appointment of lawyer Lee Yong-gu as the Deputy Minister of Justice, saying, "If the prosecution leaks to the legal press that 'this person belongs to the Uri Law Research Association and has progressive tendencies,' the legal press writes articles about it, and opposition politicians pick it up and say 'this person is inappropriate.'" He added, "Ultimately, saying someone is inappropriate based on their constitutional values of thought and freedom of conscience is wrong in my opinion."

He concluded, "Therefore, I think the controversy over the new Deputy Minister of Justice is a planned issue raised by some conservative media and opposition parties to create a kind of controversy."

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