Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol Works on Christmas... Accelerates 'Regime Investigation'

Court Grants Suspension of Yoon's Disciplinary Action... Expect Accelerated Investigations into Wolseong Nuclear Plant and Other Power-Related Cases

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Bae Kyunghwan] A court has issued a decision to suspend the enforcement of the '2-month suspension' disciplinary action against Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol. Immediately after the court's ruling, Prosecutor General Yoon stated, "I will do my best to uphold the spirit of the Constitution, the rule of law, and common sense."

According to the legal community on the 25th, Prosecutor General Yoon arrived at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul around noon, had lunch with a packed meal, and then received work reports during his absence from Deputy Prosecutor General Cho Nam-gwan and others.

Prosecutor General Yoon decided to come to work urgently to handle tasks due to the recent outbreak of COVID-19 in correctional facilities and the new implementation of the prosecution and police investigation authority adjustment plan starting next year. It is known that even on the day the suspension was imposed, Yoon instructed the distribution of a public guidance manual regarding the investigation authority adjustment plan.

He plans to come to work on the 26th as well to catch up on pending tasks. He will arrive at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office at 2 p.m., receive reports from Deputy Prosecutor General Cho and others, and then handle his duties.

With Prosecutor General Yoon successfully returning amid relentless attacks from Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae and the ruling party, investigations into power-related corruption, such as the 'allegations of manipulation in the economic feasibility evaluation of Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1,' are expected to gain further momentum. Investigations into the 'alleged election interference by the Blue House in the Ulsan mayoral election' and the 'Lime and Optimus cases,' which have been linked to the current administration, are also included.

The core issue in the allegations of manipulation in the economic feasibility evaluation of Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 is whether the Blue House exerted influence in the decision-making process that led to the early shutdown of the nuclear plant. The allegations began with claims that the economic feasibility of Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant was manipulated downward with a predetermined conclusion to promote former President Moon Jae-in's nuclear phase-out pledge. However, the prosecution is investigating the illegality of the shutdown process rather than the government policy of early nuclear plant closure. The Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office, where a close aide of Prosecutor General Yoon serves as the chief prosecutor, has been in charge of the investigation, but the investigation was halted while Yoon was suspended from duty.

Nevertheless, the prosecution recently indicted three officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on charges of deleting and concealing related materials during Prosecutor General Yoon's absence. As the investigation into the key personnel responsible for the early shutdown of Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant concludes, there is a growing possibility that the prosecution will accelerate investigations targeting higher-ups, including former Minister of Industry and Energy Baek Woon-gyu and Blue House officials who oversaw nuclear policy at the time. The prosecution continues to investigate whether the Blue House was involved in the process by which the Ministry's officials conveyed the decision to shut down Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant early to Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power.

Investigations into ruling party figures suspected of involvement in the Lime and Optimus cases are also expected to accelerate. The investigation into allegations of political and governmental lobbying by former Star Mobility Chairman Kim Bong-hyun related to the Lime scandal is still ongoing. The Optimus case has been temporarily stalled after a close aide of Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, was summoned by the prosecution for violating the Political Funds Act and subsequently took an extreme measure during the investigation.

Some speculate that Justice Minister Choo might replace the leadership of the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office, responsible for the nuclear power plant investigation, in the upcoming prosecution personnel reshuffle scheduled for early next year. Chief Prosecutor Lee Doo-bong of the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office, who is in charge of the nuclear power plant investigation, is a prime example. Others mentioned include Deputy Prosecutor General Cho Nam-gwan, Prosecutor Jeong Jin-ung, and Seoul High Prosecutors' Office Chief Prosecutor Cho Sang-chul, who prosecuted them during the disciplinary process against Prosecutor General Yoon, which caused a rift with Justice Minister Choo. However, with the court siding with Prosecutor General Yoon and narrowing Justice Minister Choo's influence, it remains to be seen how much she will be involved in personnel decisions.

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