"President Moon Requests Reconfirmation of Choo Mi-ae" Cheong Wa Dae National Petition... "Most Dedicated Effort"

Petitioner: "Minister Chu, a Dedicated Cabinet Member for Prosecution Reform"

A petition urging the reappointment of Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae, who expressed her intention to resign, was posted on the Blue House National Petition Board on the 17th. The petition has surpassed 100 preliminary endorsements and is currently under administrator review. / Photo by National Petition Board screenshot

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] A Blue House petition urging President Moon Jae-in to reaffirm his trust in Justice Minister Chu Mi-ae, who has expressed her intention to resign, appeared on the 17th. The petitioner emphasized that Minister Chu is still needed to complete the prosecution reform.

On that day, a post titled "Requesting the President's Reaffirmation of Trust in Justice Minister Chu Mi-ae" was uploaded on the Blue House petition board. The author identified himself as Kim Doo-il, the author of "Prosecution Reform and the Great Battle of Cho Kuk," published last January.

In the petition, Mr. Kim addressed President Moon, saying, "To successfully complete the prosecution reform, a key reform task of the current administration, I request reaffirmation of trust in Minister Chu," and emphasized, "If I were to name the minister who has spared no dedicated effort in institutionalizing reforms of power institutions, including prosecution reform, it would be Minister Chu."

Regarding Minister Chu, Mr. Kim evaluated, "She willingly took over the role despite the previous minister, former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, and his family suffering serious damage to their human rights and honor due to illegal abuse of prosecutorial power by the prosecution organization resisting reform," and added, "For a year, she led prosecution reform, risking threats to her political life and her family."

Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae is making an announcement at a press briefing on reforming power institutions held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 16th. / Photo by Yonhap News

He then pointed out, "President, Minister Chu, and the ruling party are steadily making reforms through legal procedures, but the prosecution leadership, which still controls prosecutorial power, is showing a serious contradiction by not following legal procedures to resist reform."

Mr. Kim criticized the prosecution, saying, "The prosecution leadership under Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, who has already abused investigative and prosecutorial powers even against the Blue House in an attempt at a soft coup, still shows resistance to reform."

He continued, "In this situation, Minister Chu, who for the first time in the history of the Republic of Korea's constitutional government brought about the disciplinary committee referral and 'two-month suspension' disciplinary result against the Prosecutor General, which existed only theoretically before, resigning from her ministerial duties with the intention to take political responsibility for the result is a highly risky act."

He urged, "I request President Moon to dissuade Minister Chu from her political decision to resign, to reject her resignation, and furthermore, to clearly show reaffirmation of trust." The petition has received over 100 preliminary consents and is under review by the administrator, and as of 3:30 PM that day, it had garnered more than 23,000 endorsements.

Meanwhile, Minister Chu visited the Blue House the previous day (16th) afternoon, submitted the disciplinary proposal for Prosecutor General Yoon, who was given a two-month suspension by the Prosecutor Disciplinary Committee early that morning, to President Moon, and expressed her intention to resign on the spot. It was about 11 months since she took office on January 2.

After announcing her resignation, Minister Chu wrote on her Facebook that day, "Even if shattered to pieces, it was a dream toward a fair and just world."

Minister Chu indirectly expressed her thoughts by quoting poet Jeong Ho-seung's poem "Shattered," saying, "I said I would give everything, but only pieces remain," and "Even the pieces remain intact and united. I dedicate this to the people who stayed up white through the night. I love you. I respect you."

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