Court's 'Stay of Execution' Decision Allows Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol to Resume Duties... Minister Chu Mi-ae Cornered (Comprehensive)

Disciplinary Reason Found to Be False and Procedural Defects Recognized

Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae (left) and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The Seoul Administrative Court on the 24th granted Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol's request to suspend the enforcement of his two-month suspension disciplinary action.

The Administrative Division 12 of the Seoul Administrative Court (Presiding Judge Hong Soon-wook) held a second hearing from 3:00 PM to 4:15 PM and issued a decision to suspend the enforcement of the two-month suspension disciplinary action against Prosecutor General Yoon that evening.

The court stated in its order, "The two-month suspension imposed by the President on the applicant (Prosecutor General Yoon) on December 16, 2020, shall have its effect suspended until the 30th day from the date of the judgment in the disciplinary action cancellation lawsuit case No. 2020GuHap88541."

The court further explained, "Among the disciplinary reasons for this case, inappropriate remarks concerning political neutrality and damage to dignity are not recognized. The preparation and distribution of the 'court analysis document' in this case are highly inappropriate but require additional evidence. There is room for dispute regarding obstruction of inspection and investigation related to the Channel A case, which requires thorough examination in the main trial. Considering procedural defects in the disciplinary committee's decision on the recusals in this disciplinary process, it is difficult to conclude that the applicant has no chance of winning the main claim."

It added, "Also, considering the irreparable damage to the applicant caused by this disciplinary action and the urgent need to prevent such damage to some extent, and the difficulty in concluding that there is a significant impact on public welfare as claimed by the respondent, it is appropriate at this stage to suspend the effect of this disciplinary action."

Although Prosecutor General Yoon requested the suspension of the suspension's effect until the cancellation lawsuit is finalized, the court suspended the effect only until 30 days from the first-instance judgment date. Formally, this is a 'partial acceptance,' but considering that Yoon's remaining term is only seven months, it can be regarded as practically a full victory.

Prosecutor General Yoon to Return to Work Tomorrow... Deputy Chief Jo Nam-gwan to Report on 'Absent Work'

Following the court's decision to suspend enforcement, Prosecutor General Yoon will immediately resume his duties and perform his role while pursuing the cancellation lawsuit against the suspension.

Right after the court's decision, Prosecutor General Yoon expressed, "I deeply appreciate the judiciary's judgment," and added, "I will do my best to uphold the spirit of the Constitution, the rule of law, and common sense."

Returning to work on Christmas Day, December 25, Prosecutor General Yoon will receive reports on overall work during his absence since the suspension on the 16th.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office stated, "Prosecutor General Yoon will come to work on the afternoon of the 25th to receive reports on absent work from the Deputy Chief and the Secretariat Chief, and on the afternoon of the 26th, he will also come to work to receive related work reports from the Deputy Chief, Secretariat Chief, Policy Planning Director, Criminal Policy Officer, and Operations Support Director, and handle tasks accordingly."

The Ministry of Justice, led by Minister Choo Mi-ae, is reportedly reviewing the court's decision and will decide whether to file an immediate appeal. However, considering the two-month suspension period, it is unlikely that the result will be overturned through an immediate appeal.

Court Issues Judgments on Each Disciplinary Reason

In the decision to suspend the enforcement of the suspension, the court also provided relatively detailed judgments on the individual allegations cited by Minister Choo Mi-ae when filing the disciplinary charges against Prosecutor General Yoon.

First, regarding the 'court analysis document' that Minister Choo claimed was a 'judge surveillance document' during the disciplinary briefing, the court pointed out the risk of misuse and deemed it highly inappropriate but found insufficient grounds to accept Minister Choo's claim that the document was created to form unfavorable public opinion against the court, attack, defame, ridicule, or make a joke of the court.

Regarding Prosecutor General Yoon's remarks at the National Assembly audit in October, the court stated, "It is difficult to conclude that the statement 'service for our society and people' constitutes inappropriate remarks concerning political neutrality."

Furthermore, the court noted, "The disciplinary committee's grounds for recognizing misconduct, such as 'raising suspicion about political neutrality' and 'the mere discussion of the applicant's political activities implies the possibility of political use of major case investigations,' are mere speculation and inappropriate as grounds for recognizing misconduct."

However, the court stated that the obstruction of investigation related to the Channel A case was not sufficiently proven, and although obstruction of inspection was somewhat proven, it was difficult to make an accurate judgment based solely on the submitted evidence.

Meanwhile, the court rejected Minister Choo's claim that the disciplinary action, as an exercise of the President's personnel authority, would harm public welfare if the suspension request were granted.

"Disciplinary Committee Violated Prosecutor Disciplinary Act Quorum Rules... Recusal and Disciplinary Decisions Both Invalid"

The court also judged that the disciplinary committee's decisions were invalid due to procedural defects violating the Prosecutor Disciplinary Act quorum requirements regarding the recusal decisions.

During the two deliberations on the 10th and 16th, the disciplinary committee allowed members who were subject to recusals requested by Prosecutor General Yoon's side to leave only during their own recusal votes but participate alternately in other recusal votes. The court found this violated Article 17, Paragraph 4 of the Prosecutor Disciplinary Act, which states that a person subject to a recusal request cannot participate in that vote.

The court explained, "Article 17, Paragraph 4 of the Prosecutor Disciplinary Act stipulates that 'When there is a recusal request, the committee shall decide on the recusal with a majority of the total members present and a majority of those present voting in favor. The person subject to the recusal request shall not participate in the vote.' In this case, the disciplinary committee conducted recusal votes with only three members after the member subject to the recusal request left, failing to meet the quorum of a majority of total members, rendering the recusal votes invalid."

It added, "Subsequently, the disciplinary committee's disciplinary decision was made with the participation of members who should have been recused, thus lacking quorum and invalid."

The court also rejected Minister Choo's claim that members recused by the applicant's counsel should be counted as present for quorum but excluded from the voting quorum.

The Supreme Court ruling cited by Minister Choo concerned a provision in the former Commercial Act stating that "a person with a special interest in the resolution of the general meeting cannot exercise voting rights," which differs in wording from the Prosecutor Disciplinary Act's provision that "a person subject to recusal shall not participate in the vote," making the precedent inapplicable according to the court.

Minister Choo Mi-ae Cornered... January Prosecutor Personnel Changes in Focus

With the court's decision to suspend the enforcement of the two-month suspension disciplinary action, Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae, who filed the disciplinary charges and led the disciplinary committee's decision, finds herself in a difficult position.

Following the court's suspension of the order to suspend Minister Choo's duties and now the suspension of the disciplinary action against Prosecutor General Yoon, there is expected to be strong backlash questioning whether Minister Choo's investigation directives and inspection orders regarding various issues she cited as grounds for Yoon's discipline, including the 'court analysis document,' were appropriate.

Especially since the court's decision was made after reviewing the specific disciplinary reasons to be addressed in the main disciplinary cancellation lawsuit, it will be difficult for Minister Choo to avoid criticism that she pushed the disciplinary action against Prosecutor General Yoon excessively. Opposition parties are expected to intensify calls not for Minister Choo's resignation but for President Moon Jae-in to hold her accountable and dismiss her.

Minister Choo had expressed her intention to resign when she requested the two-month suspension disciplinary action against Prosecutor General Yoon on the 16th.

At that time, President Moon praised her, saying, "Without Minister Choo's drive and determination, reforms of power institutions, including the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials and investigative authority reforms, would have been impossible," and "I especially appreciate her faithful completion of the mission entrusted by the era."

Regarding Minister Choo's resignation intention, President Moon also said, "I highly evaluate her expression of intention and decision on her position," and "I hope she fulfills her duties until the end."

However, with the disciplinary action against Prosecutor General Yoon, which Minister Choo pushed for, effectively nullified by the judiciary's judgment, both Minister Choo and President Moon, who approved the discipline, have found their positions weakened.

Nonetheless, with the Corruption Investigation Office Chief Candidate Recommendation Committee scheduled for the 28th to recommend the first Chief of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, and the upcoming prosecutor personnel changes in January, it is unlikely that President Moon will replace Minister Choo immediately.

As criticism against Minister Choo is expected to intensify, especially from opposition parties, attention is focused on whether Minister Choo will use the prosecutor personnel changes scheduled for early next year to demote prosecutors who opposed the disciplinary process against Prosecutor General Yoon and effectively dismantle the investigation team conducting probes into the 'Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant' case and other investigations targeting the administration, thereby deepening divisions once again.

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