"What's That Sitting Posture?" Pro- Moon Jae-in Faction 'Boiling' Over Yoon Seok-yeol's Every Move

Park Beom-gye's First Prosecution Personnel Move Highlights 'Chuseo Line'
Some 'Pro-Moon' Criticize Yoon Chief Prosecutor's 'Seated Posture'

Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye (right) is meeting with Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office building in Seocho-dong, Seoul, on the 5th to discuss opinions on prosecutorial personnel matters. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] Park Beom-gye, Minister of Justice, retained Lee Seong-yoon as the head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in his first reshuffle of senior prosecutors since taking office. Shim Jae-cheol, Director of the Prosecutor's Office at the Ministry of Justice who led the disciplinary action against Prosecutor General Yoon, was transferred to the Southern District Prosecutors' Office, and so-called 'Chu Mi-ae line' prosecutors were reaffirmed.

However, rather than public evaluation of the Ministry of Justice's personnel reshuffle, critical opinions about Prosecutor General Yoon's attitude have emerged mainly among ruling party supporters. Although it may seem like a trivial matter at first glance, it can be interpreted as a current trend among ruling party supporters toward Prosecutor General Yoon, suggesting that the criticism and conflict toward Yoon by ruling party supporters that persisted during former Minister Chu Mi-ae's tenure will likely continue for the time being.

Additionally, former Minister Chu showed a connection with supporters by sharing their messages about prosecutorial reform on her Facebook, indicating that Minister Park will also likely consider the views of 'pro-Moon' factions in the upcoming prosecutorial reform process.

On the 5th, a photo showing Prosecutor General Yoon and Minister Park exchanging opinions on prosecutorial personnel reshuffle was released. In response, the 'pro-Moon' (親文, the core supporters of President Moon Jae-in's governance and political philosophy) faction voiced criticism of Prosecutor General Yoon's posture.

The main reason for criticism is that although the Minister of Justice is the superior and the Prosecutor General is the subordinate, Yoon's sitting posture appears as if he is conversing with the Minister of Justice on an equal footing.

Moreover, Yoon's remark during the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on October 22 last year, when he responded to People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Han-hong's question about his thoughts on former Minister Chu's investigative command authority by saying, "Legally speaking, the Prosecutor General is not a subordinate of the Minister of Justice," has resurfaced. Among pro-Moon supporters, comments such as "Yoon's attitude is too arrogant," "So presumptuous," and "Is that the attitude of a subordinate?" continue to be raised.

Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye (left) is having a conversation with Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, who came to congratulate him on his inauguration at the Government Complex Gwacheon on the 1st.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

A Democratic Party supporter expressed an intense reaction using harsh language, saying, "How can he investigate his direct superior?" and "This is outright insubordination; punishment is necessary," regarding the recent investigation of Minister Park by the prosecution.

Another Democratic Party supporter criticized, "Now the pattern of Prosecutor General Yoon's retaliatory investigations has been revealed. If he doesn't like someone, he investigates and prosecutes them. This is exactly why prosecutorial reform is needed."

According to the legal community on the 7th, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office assigned the investigation request case filed by the civic group 'Action Alliance for Restoring the Rule of Law' against Minister Park and the law firm Myeonggyeong to the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office. The case was entrusted to two offices of the Criminal Division 5 (Chief Prosecutor Lee Sang-hyun).

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice announced on the 7th that four prosecutors at the level of Supreme Prosecutors' Office prosecutors will be transferred as of the 9th. The Ministry explained the background, stating, "This was carried out on a minimal scale as a follow-up measure to fill the vacancy of the Planning and Coordination Department head at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and to appoint key positions such as the Director of the Prosecutor's Office at the Ministry of Justice."

Among them, Han Dong-hoon, Research Fellow at the Judicial Research and Training Institute (Chief Prosecutor), was excluded from the personnel reshuffle. Prosecutor Han was excluded from investigative duties due to his involvement in the 'media-prosecution collusion' case. In addition, key investigative leadership such as Lee Doo-bong, head of the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office leading the 'Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant investigation,' and Moon Hong-seong, head of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office handling the 'Kim Hak-ui illegal departure ban case,' were also retained.

Earlier, Minister Park explained that he made efforts to reflect Prosecutor General Yoon's opinions by meeting with him twice on the 2nd and 5th to discuss prosecutorial personnel matters.

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