Prosecutor General Yoon's 'Recusal' Request Scope in Focus... Likely to Recuse Deputy Minister Lee Yong-gu, Minister Choo, and Nominated Prosecutors

Request to Reopen Disclosure of Disciplinary Committee Members Today
Focus on Whether the Judges' Representative Meeting Will Table the 'Judge Surveillance Document' Agenda

Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, who was unable to go to work due to the decision to exclude him from duty by Justice Minister Chu Mi-ae, is arriving at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 1st, following the court's decision to suspend the enforcement.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol is employing a strategy to fully utilize the 'disqualification request' card three days ahead of the prosecutor disciplinary committee scheduled for the 10th.

He has already formalized a disqualification request against one of the disciplinary committee members, the Ministry of Justice Vice Minister, and is highly likely to file additional disqualification requests against two prosecutors appointed by the Minister of Justice during the meeting. If the disciplinary committee excludes even some of the respondents from the meeting, there is a high possibility that the committee itself will be paralyzed.

On the 7th, Yoon’s lawyer Lee Wan-gyu stated, "We plan to request the Ministry of Justice for more inspection records that have not yet been received, and we will also request the list of disciplinary committee members once again."

According to Article 17 of the Prosecutor Disciplinary Act, a person subject to disciplinary charges may submit a written explanation to the committee and request disqualification of a disciplinary committee member if there are circumstances that make it difficult to expect fairness in the disciplinary decision. Upon receiving a disqualification request, the committee decides on the disqualification by a majority vote of the members present, provided that a majority of the total members are present. The member who is the subject of the disqualification request cannot participate in the vote.

Yoon has decided to file a disqualification request against Vice Minister Lee Yong-gu. Before his appointment, Lee was the defense attorney for Baek Woon-gyun, former Minister of Industry and core suspect in the 'Wolseong Unit 1' case, which Yoon is directing. Additionally, on the 4th, a message saying "It seems like Yoon’s bad move (惡手)" was observed in a Telegram group chat regarding Yoon’s constitutional complaint against the Prosecutor Disciplinary Act.

Moreover, it has been revealed that in mid-last month, Vice Minister Lee had Park Eun-jung, the Ministry of Justice’s inspection officer, investigate former Minister of Justice Park Sang-ki related to Yoon, which leads Yoon’s side to believe that a neutral judgment is unlikely.

The issue now is how many of the remaining five committee members, excluding Vice Minister Lee, Yoon will file additional disqualification requests against.

Currently, the Ministry of Justice refuses to disclose the list of committee members, so Yoon’s side must identify the members on the day of the disciplinary committee meeting and then select targets for disqualification.

It is known that the Ministry of Justice plans to replace two current prosecutor members?Shim Jae-cheol, Director of the Ministry of Justice’s Prosecutor Bureau, and Shin Sung-sik, Head of the Anti-Corruption Department at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office?due to potential conflicts of interest and the high likelihood of Yoon filing disqualification requests against them. However, it is unclear whether replacements have been appointed.

However, since the disciplinary committee is composed of members appointed or nominated by Minister Chu, the likelihood of Yoon’s disqualification requests being accepted appears low.

Nonetheless, if the disciplinary committee proceeds without accepting all disqualification requests and decides on a severe disciplinary action, it could provide grounds for Yoon to raise fairness issues.

Meanwhile, attention is focused on whether the so-called 'judge surveillance document' will be placed on the agenda at the judges’ representative meeting ongoing since this morning.

Regarding this document, which Minister Chu cited as a key disciplinary reason against Yoon, opinions within the judiciary are divided over its legality. Even if only opinions deeming it 'inappropriate' are gathered at today’s judges’ meeting, it could work against Yoon in future court battles.

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