Conflicting Reactions to Yoon's Disciplinary Action... Ruling Party: "Serious Misconduct" Opposition: "Attitude Against Common Sense"

Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly on the 16th and delivering a speech. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporters Kim Hyemin and Jeon Jinyoung] The ruling and opposition parties showed contrasting reactions to the Ministry of Justice's Disciplinary Committee for Prosecutors imposing a 'two-month suspension' on Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol.

Choi In-ho, the senior spokesperson for the Democratic Party, stated on the morning of the 16th, "We respect the decision of the disciplinary committee," adding, "The reasons for the discipline are serious misconduct in the eyes of the public who desire prosecutorial reform."

The party leadership also supported the committee's decision, expressing their commitment to prosecutorial reform. Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party, emphasized at the Supreme Council meeting, "This reveals how significant the internal issues within the prosecution are," and "It has become even clearer why prosecutorial reform is necessary." Kim Tae-nyeon, the floor leader of the Democratic Party, did not mention Prosecutor General Yoon directly but said, "The current controversies and conflicts surrounding prosecutorial reform are the pains of normalizing the prosecution from political and power-driven prosecution to a prosecution for the people."

Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, is holding a press conference on recent issues at the National Assembly on the 16th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

The opposition parties, including the People Power Party, questioned the legitimacy of the disciplinary committee's decision and raised critical voices toward President Moon Jae-in.

Kim Jong-in, emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party, criticized, "As the appointing authority, the president could have summoned Prosecutor General Yoon beforehand and dismissed him, but instead went through a complicated procedure," calling it "an attitude against common sense." Kim Ki-hyun, a People Power Party lawmaker, also appeared on KBS radio, saying, "President Moon hid behind the scenes because directly dismissing him would not sit well with public sentiment," and added, "This was done to achieve the goal while avoiding responsibility."

There were also claims that investigations related to the administration, such as the alleged manipulation of the economic feasibility evaluation of the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 and the Lime and Optimus private equity fund cases, would lose momentum. Kim said, "(The two-month suspension) suspends the prosecutor general's authority, and during that time, the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, or CIPO) will be launched to take over all investigations into power-related corruption," adding, "The Blue House politically pre-judged the disciplinary level as the best way to avoid responsibility." Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, said, "This is no different from private revenge by organized crime groups disguised as public authority," and warned, "From now on, the process of privatizing the CIPO by the power will be publicly revealed."

The Justice Party raised concerns about the procedure and legitimacy of the disciplinary process. Jung Ho-jin, spokesperson for the Justice Party, issued a statement saying, "We cannot help but point out the limitations such as the omission of Prosecutor Lee Jung-hwa's inspection report and the legitimacy controversy over the composition of the Ministry of Justice's disciplinary committee," and urged, "The president should make a decision considering the committee's limitations and the confusion caused in state affairs so far and bring the controversy to an end."

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