Yoon Prosecutor's Side Releases 'Japanese Judge Information Book'... Repeatedly Denies Surveillance Allegations

Documents on Japanese judges' evaluations, careers, and cases... Emphasizing 'No Relation to Surveillance' in Information Gathering

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] The legal team of Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol has once again rebutted the allegations of "judge surveillance" cited by Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae as grounds for disciplinary action. Following the presentation of a book summarizing the reputations of U.S. federal judges, they have now released a booklet detailing the careers and major cases of Japanese judges.

On the 8th, Lee Wan-gyu, the legal representative of Prosecutor General Yoon, introduced to reporters the information booklet on Japanese judges titled "Saibankan Who's Who." This is interpreted as an effort to emphasize that the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's document on judicial information collection is unrelated to surveillance.

The booklet contains evaluation articles, career histories, major cases handled, and publications such as authored books and papers for 115 Japanese judges. Attorney Lee explained that the evaluation articles related to judges' case management were written based on information and materials gathered from legal professionals, litigation parties, and media personnel.

In particular, the booklet includes evaluations of judges such as "good character" and "responds neatly even to requests for clarification from defense attorneys." However, it was added that the amount of information varies depending on the importance or attention received by the cases handled by the judges.

Attorney Lee also disclosed part of the book "Almanac of the Federal Judiciary," which contains information on the education, careers, major rulings, and reputations of over 100 U.S. federal judges, the day before. This book also records legal professionals' evaluations of specific judges, such as "no bias or prejudice" and "not the type to ask many questions." Attorney Lee emphasized, "Compared to such content, the information in the judge surveillance document is minimal," adding, "In foreign countries, judge information is even sold to people for litigation purposes."

Earlier, a document titled "Analysis of Major Special and Public Security Case Panels," prepared by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Investigation Information Policy Office in February, listed the high schools and universities attended by judges handling cases, major rulings, and reputations, sparking controversy over judge surveillance. Minister Chu cited this document as one of the grounds for disciplinary action against Prosecutor General Yoon on the 24th of last month, raising the judge surveillance allegations.

Meanwhile, representative judges from courts nationwide formally submitted the issue of responding to the "judge surveillance" allegations as an agenda item yesterday. However, after heated debate, both the original and amended proposals were rejected. It was anticipated that if a resolution had been passed, it would have worked against Prosecutor General Yoon ahead of the disciplinary committee scheduled for the 10th, but with the rejection, Yoon has been relieved of some pressure.

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