Ha Tae-kyung: "The Current Situation Is Not a Moon-Yoon Conflict but a Moon-Law Conflict... President Moon Directly Challenges the Rule of Law"

"The Final Approver Who Tried to Oust Prosecutor General Yoon Was President Moon" Criticism

Ha Tae-kyung, People Power Party member / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Ha Tae-kyung, a member of the People Power Party, evaluated Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol's appeal against the '2-month suspension' disciplinary action, filing for suspension of execution and cancellation of the disposition, as "This situation is not a conflict between Moon and Yoon, but a conflict between Moon and the law."

On the 18th, Ha wrote on his Facebook, "It is a natural result that Prosecutor General Yoon, who has the responsibility and duty to uphold the rule of law, filed a lawsuit to cancel the suspension," asserting this.

He continued, "If Prosecutor General Yoon succumbs to unfair and illegal disciplinary actions, it means giving up the rule of law," emphasizing, "It is the duty of the Prosecutor General to clarify right and wrong to the end and leave a record in history."

He added, "This situation is not a conflict between President Moon Jae-in and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol," pointing out, "It is a direct challenge by President Moon to the rule of law."

Ha criticized, "The ultimate approver of the destruction of the rule of law, who ignored the law and tried to expel Prosecutor General Yoon with groundless sophistry, is none other than President Moon," and said, "The disciplinary committee was illegal from beginning to end. Even though the court pointed out the unfairness of the disciplinary committee and reinstated Prosecutor General Yoon, they forcibly carried out a bogus disciplinary action by mobilizing unqualified people."

He also pointed out, "Then they claim that the statement about serving the people after retirement is a political declaration and use it as a reason for discipline."

Yoon Seok-yeol, Prosecutor General / Photo by Yonhap News

Earlier, Prosecutor General Yoon's side filed a lawsuit on the afternoon of the 17th, requesting the cancellation of the disciplinary action against him. They also applied for a suspension of execution to halt the disciplinary effect until the lawsuit result is out, allowing him to continue performing his duties as Prosecutor General. This came just one day after President Moon approved the disciplinary action.

Regarding this, Lee Wankyu, Yoon's legal representative, explained in a statement, "At around 9:20 PM today, we filed an administrative lawsuit electronically and applied for suspension of execution."

Yoon's side also refuted the disciplinary reasons announced when the Ministry of Justice's Prosecutor Disciplinary Committee decided on the '2-month suspension' the day before. In particular, regarding the so-called 'judge surveillance document' allegation, they criticized, "The discipline was imposed based on arbitrary speculation without evidence."

Regarding the disciplinary reason of 'violation of political neutrality,' they rebutted, "There has been no act violating prohibited acts or duties related to political neutrality."

Previously, at the National Assembly's inspection of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in October, Prosecutor General Yoon responded to a question about his post-retirement plans by saying, "I will think about how to serve society and the people."

This response sparked criticism from some ruling party members, suggesting that "Prosecutor General Yoon is engaging in political activities." However, Yoon's side is interpreted to have rebutted that the statement was a principled answer indicating his intention to set an example as a high-ranking public official after retirement.

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