Yoon Strengthens Internal Unity... "Many Pending Tasks. I Will Start with Work First"

This Week Marks the Official Start of Work... Detailed Instructions Expected for Major Incidents Including Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol is set to actively oversee investigations into major cases. Utilizing the Christmas holiday, Yoon, who received reports on the progress of investigations during his suspension period, will start providing feedback to the relevant departments on each matter from this week, when his official return to work takes place.

According to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on the 28th, Yoon came to work on the afternoon of the 26th following Christmas and received reports on major prosecution investigations, including allegations of manipulation in the economic feasibility evaluation of Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1. Yoon told close aides, "There is a lot of backlog. I will start with the backlog," and indicated that he would delegate court-related tasks such as substantive lawsuits to lawyers and focus on his duties as Prosecutor General.

The case attracting the most attention is the allegation of manipulation in the economic feasibility evaluation of Wolseong Unit 1, which is being handled by the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office. This was the first issue Yoon addressed upon his return after being suspended earlier this month. During the recent court hearing, Yoon mentioned the Wolseong nuclear power plant allegations, expressing the view that "the disciplinary action was politically motivated to block investigations into those in power."

The investigation has now reached the stage of prosecuting Ministry of Industry officials who deleted documents and investigating whether higher-ups were involved. Within the prosecution, voices are emerging calling for investigations into Baek Woon-kyu, the former Minister of Industry, and Chae Hee-bong, the former Blue House Industrial Policy Secretary.

However, the upcoming regular prosecution personnel reshuffle next month poses a variable. Since there is talk that Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae or her successor might replace Lee Doo-bong, the head of the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office leading the nuclear power plant investigation, some speculate that Yoon may accelerate the investigation.

The taxi driver assault controversy involving Deputy Minister of Justice Lee Yong-gu has been transferred to the prosecution in line with Yoon's return. The core controversy lies in the police not applying the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, which is closely related to the adjustment of investigative authority between the police and prosecution, so Yoon may put considerable effort into the investigation. This case, reported to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, was assigned to the Criminal Division 5 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on the 24th, and various allegations raised during the investigation will be examined starting this week.

Yoon also received reports during the Christmas holiday on the Blue House's alleged interference in the Ulsan mayoral election. After initially indicting 13 people in January, including former Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Baek Won-woo, Ulsan Mayor Song Cheol-ho, and former Senior Secretary for Political Affairs Han Byung-do, the investigation has effectively stalled. Attention is focused on whether former Chief of Staff Lim Jong-seok and Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Lee Kwang-chul will face legal action.

The cases involving ruling party figures linked to the Optimus and Lime scandals are also under close watch. However, in the Lime case, there are parts where Yoon cannot directly intervene due to instructions from Minister Choo, so he may be unable to give specific directives.

Yoon has decided to entrust the preparation of the substantive lawsuit seeking cancellation of his disciplinary action to his lawyers for the time being. Due to repeated exclusion and reinstatement over the past month, resulting in many work gaps, he intends to focus solely on his duties as Prosecutor General. Lee Wan-kyu, Yoon's special defense attorney, also stated, "We plan to prepare for the substantive lawsuit in the future," adding, "Any additional explanations needed will be thoroughly clarified during the substantive lawsuit process."

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice plans to announce its position on the court's suspension of execution decision early this week. The deadline for an immediate appeal against the suspension decision is one week, so a decision on whether to contest it must be made by the end of this month at the latest. A variable is the timing of Minister Choo's acceptance of her resignation. On the previous night, breaking her silence after judging that the disciplinary action against Yoon had effectively failed, Minister Choo stated, "Although I knew that day would not come easily, I have also come to deeply realize that day must come."

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