Prosecutor General Yoon's Second Hearing on 'Suspension of Disciplinary Action' Begins... Who Will Prevail?

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The second hearing of the injunction application against the disciplinary action on Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol has begun. As the final showdown between Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae and Prosecutor General Yoon, this hearing is expected to involve a trial equivalent to the main lawsuit.

The Seoul Administrative Court, Administrative Division 12 (Presiding Judge Hong Soon-wook), started the second hearing of the injunction application filed by Prosecutor General Yoon against Minister Choo on the 24th at 3 p.m.

Prosecutor General Yoon was absent again, while his legal team appeared, including special attorney Lee Seok-woong and attorneys Lee Wan-gyu and Son Kyung-sik. Attorney Lee Seok-woong told reporters in front of the court, "We responded to the court's additional inquiries about what constitutes urgent and irreparable harm, what urgent necessity entails, and specifically what it means not to contradict public welfare."

On the Ministry of Justice side, attorney Lee Ok-hyung represented their position. Before attending, Lee also stated, "We explained that there are no procedural defects," and conveyed the stance that "there are sufficient grounds for disciplinary action."

Earlier, both the Ministry of Justice and Prosecutor General Yoon’s legal representatives submitted responses to the additional inquiries requested by the court immediately after the first hearing. After internal discussions, any further additions will be presented with explanations on-site. It is known that both sides have submitted separate legal materials regarding the disciplinary committee procedures beyond the court’s requested matters.

Legal circles expect that the second hearing will further expand on the issues likely to be contested in the main case. This is interpreted as an effort to prevent a situation where the injunction application is dismissed, causing Prosecutor General Yoon to be unable to perform his duties for two months and only after completing his term the disciplinary action is canceled, or conversely, the injunction is granted allowing Yoon to immediately return to duty and complete his term before a conclusion is reached on the disciplinary action’s validity. Presiding Judge Hong Soon-wook also revealed during the first hearing, "This injunction case is practically no different from the main trial."

Generally, injunction cases do not take long to reach a conclusion. However, since this case involves the disciplinary decision of a sitting Prosecutor General and the court is examining it broadly, the verdict may be delivered after Christmas. Previously, the provisional injunction decision regarding Prosecutor General Yoon’s suspension was made the day after the first hearing.

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