Yoon Prosecutor's Side Refuses Access to Disciplinary Records and Meeting Minutes... "Practically Impossible to Review"

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The side of Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol requested access to disciplinary records and inspection committee meeting minutes from the Ministry of Justice, but the request was denied.

On the 14th, Lee Wankyu, the legal representative of Prosecutor General Yoon, stated, "The Ministry of Justice's prosecution department informed us that the inspection committee meeting minutes are available for viewing only, and copies of the disciplinary records can be provided. However, due to the preparation schedule, it was practically impossible to review them, so we refused to receive or view them."

The request for additional viewing by Prosecutor General Yoon's side was met with an offer to view and receive documents only just before the disciplinary committee meeting, leaving no time for review and interpreted as an attempt to avoid giving grounds for guaranteeing the right to defense.

Earlier, before the first disciplinary committee meeting held on the 10th, Prosecutor General Yoon's side repeatedly demanded the Ministry of Justice to allow viewing and copying of inspection records and to disclose the names of disciplinary committee members to guarantee the right to defense. The rationale was that viewing the list of disciplinary committee members is necessary to exercise the legally guaranteed right to challenge. In response, the Ministry of Justice rejected the request the day before, stating, "To ensure the fairness of deliberation and resolution, the list will not be disclosed legally."

Prosecutor General Yoon's side also pointed out that it was inappropriate for Minister Chu, who has the right to request disciplinary action, to proceed with notifying the disciplinary committee meeting date and other procedures, but the Ministry of Justice countered, "There is no problem proceeding with the procedures until a deputy is appointed."

Separately, Prosecutor General Yoon's side filed an information disclosure request regarding the preliminary disciplinary committee members on the same day. Based on the legal provision that "three preliminary members shall be appointed," they intend to verify whether and when preliminary members were actually selected to examine any illegality. Specifically, they requested information on the appointment date of the disciplinary committee chairperson and the date they were designated as chairperson. They also included documents that can confirm whether the appointed person among the civilian members falls under 'lawyer,' 'law professor,' or 'person with abundant knowledge and experience.'

According to Attorney Lee, although the chairperson was not a disciplinary committee member at the time of the disciplinary request on November 24, they have been performing duties as a disciplinary committee member and chairperson since an unspecified date. Therefore, it is necessary to verify the legality of their performance of duties. They also requested clarification on whether a certain civilian member, who reportedly resigned from the disciplinary committee just before the first disciplinary committee meeting on the 10th, actually resigned or was simply absent.

Regarding the previously conducted record viewing, Attorney Lee stated, "Many of the non-disclosed records contained regulations related to media reports." However, concerning the Channel A incident inspection, obstruction of investigation, obstruction of the Han Myeong-sook case inspection, and documents related to the judiciary, they plan to review written statements and rebut them through witness examination or opinion submissions.

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