Yoo Sang-beom: "Choo's Resignation Announcement Is to Appease Public Backlash"

Yoo Sang-beom, a member of the People Power Party, is questioning during the National Assembly inspection of the Seoul High Court, Suwon High Court, and their subordinate courts held on October 20 at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-eun] Yoo Sang-beom, a member of the People Power Party, criticized Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae's resignation as a "public opinion backlash appeasement."

On the 17th, Yoo said on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' program, "The Blue House probably considered the national backlash or resistance by disciplining Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol," adding, "So it seems they used Minister Chu Mi-ae's resignation as a card to appease that."

He continued, "In my view, Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol is in no position to accept this disciplinary action as is, and the grounds for the discipline have already been verified multiple times as practically invalid," and said, "If the situation calls for a lawful struggle and administrative litigation response, it will not be easy to conclude as intended."

Yoo expressed confidence that Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol will not resign, stating, "In fact, all judgments except for the Ministry of Justice's disciplinary decision have already ruled that the grounds for disciplining Yoon are unjust," and added, "The legitimacy lies with Prosecutor General Yoon, so although he may feel burdened, he strongly wants to have this legitimacy recognized as is."

He also said, "Dismissal or removal is often canceled as excessive compared to the disciplinary grounds, but a two-month suspension is relatively rarely overturned," and added, "It may be unfavorable to Prosecutor General Yoon, but from his standpoint, he absolutely cannot accept the current situation."

Furthermore, Yoo commented on the launch of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit (Gong-su-cheo), saying, "From our perspective, the ruling party forcibly passed the Gong-su-cheo Act with majority power to freely push the candidate recommendation for the Gong-su-cheo chief," and added, "If they continue to lead as they wish through such legislative dictatorship, it will be difficult for us to actively participate in the future."

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