Choo Mi-ae's Facebook: "Regret Judges' Hesitation and Concern, Clergy's Political Declaration as Resistance to Unjust Power"

"Interest and Involvement in Politics Are Everyone's Duty"

On the 1st, Choo Mi-ae, Minister of Justice, attended the Cabinet meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] On the 8th, Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae expressed regret on her Facebook regarding the fact that the National Judges' Representative Assembly, which had placed the agenda of the 'judge surveillance' suspicion document the day before, did not express the judges' stance.

Minister Chu also evaluated the Catholic Priests' Association for Justice's 'Declaration of the State by 3,000 Catholic Priests and Religious Calling for Prosecutorial Reform' the previous day as "resistance against unjust power and participation in the solemn common good of religious people."

Two days before the disciplinary committee for Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, Yoon's side revealed a Japanese book containing information about judges, emphasizing that there is no problem with the 'judge surveillance' suspicion document. Since the judges decided not to express a separate stance the day before, maintaining a neutral position, both Minister Chu and Prosecutor General Yoon appear to be engaging in public opinion mobilization.

In a Facebook post around 1 p.m. that day, Minister Chu said, "Politics is not about dividing sides," adding, "Rather, it is a process of correcting and healing division, and the goal is to lead the continuous development of society through inclusion. It is the common good that contributes to the values democracy must uphold: 'human rights, justice, fairness, and equality.'"

He pointed out, "Nevertheless, our politics first divides sides," and said, "By region, class, academic background, gender, and age, 'dividing' is mistaken for politics and taken for granted. This is precisely what makes the meaning of politics useless and is dangerous."

Minister Chu expressed regret, saying, "Yesterday, judges adopted the agenda of 'illegal collection and surveillance of judges' personal information' at the National Judges' Meeting. However, the judges refrained from expressing opinions citing political neutrality," and added, "Of course, no one would expect judges, the guardians of the law, to take sides, but there is regret over their hesitation and concerns."

He argued, "The agenda of 'illegal collection and surveillance of judges' personal information' was not about asking individual judges' thoughts and feelings," and said, "Democratic values, human rights, and fairness, which are the goals and standards of trials, are threatened, and when the Supreme Prosecutors' Office illegally collects information on individual judges and pressures judges who should judge according to the constitution, law, and conscience through public opinion mobilization, judicial justice can be shaken. It was about asking the judiciary's stance on this social crisis."

He continued, "However, the silence of judges cannot be entirely blamed on them," and said, "As mentioned earlier, because politics is regarded as mere division or power struggle, it is somewhat natural to have caution and hesitation not to take sides."

Minister Chu interpreted the Catholic Priests' Association for Justice's declaration the previous day as "resistance arising from concern and involvement that cannot overlook threats to democracy and human rights violations."

He said, "On the same day, about 4,000 Catholic clergy made a declaration," and questioned, "Did they break the constitutional principle of separation of politics and religion and violate political neutrality? Did they try to side with any faction?"

He added, "Rather, the reason they had no choice but to raise their voices outside the prayer room was to express the seriousness of the current situation where excessive exercise and abuse of prosecutorial power threaten democracy, human rights violations occur, and justice and fairness collapse due to biased investigations and prosecutions," and said, "If left unattended, it would destroy the humanity, which is the nature of the Lord, so it is understood as profound concern and involvement and resistance against unjust power."

Minister Chu said, "Even religious people stand on this land, and without justice and fairness, the love and mercy that religion aims for are also hollow. This is participation in the solemn common good of religious people, not siding with any political faction," and pointed out, "Religious people who have left the secular world worried about and admonished the chaos of the secular world, but if we in the secular world divide sides and focus on factionalization, the path of justice is still far away."

Finally, he emphasized, "Political neutrality should be distinguished from political indifference," and said, "As long as humans exist as members of society, interest and involvement in politics are everyone's duty. Everyone has the duty to know where the society we belong to is heading and whether it is moving in the right direction, and to be involved."

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