Seok Dong-hyun, Former Chief Prosecutor, "Yoon Seok-yeol Should Show the Resolve to Rather Cut My Neck"

A portion of a post uploaded by Seok Dong-hyun, former chief prosecutor of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office. Photo by Seok Dong-hyun

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-eun] Seok Dong-hyun, former chief prosecutor of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office and university classmate of Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, said on the 13th, "He should rather show the determination to block that unjust attempt by saying 'cut off my head'."

On the same day, former Prosecutor Seok posted on his Facebook under the title "What Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol should do during the remaining term," criticizing, "The investigation rights over high-ranking public officials have already been taken away by creating the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), and the proposal to create a Serious Crime Investigation Agency means even the few remaining investigation rights over serious crimes held by the prosecution will be stripped away."

He continued, "If the prosecution is neutralized and its investigation rights are taken away to be dismantled, the few cases of power-related corruption will simply be covered up and end there, but the damage and side effects arising from criminal disputes involving ordinary citizens and companies, which constitute the vast majority of the prosecution's investigation command and duties, will be enormous," he pointed out.

He added, "Now, our attention is on the response of Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, the head of the prosecution," and said, "The determination Yoon showed in the past year against the persecution and attempts to shake his position was dignified."

He also said, "Thanks to the hard struggle of Chairman Choi Jae-hyung of the Board of Audit and Inspection, investigations into power-related corruption such as the first nuclear power plant are still ongoing, and even a warrant was requested for Baek Woon-gyu, which is commendable," but evaluated, "However, that alone is not enough."

Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol is entering the Ministry of Justice building to visit Park Beom-gye, Minister of Justice, who is about to take office, at the Gyeonggi Government Gwacheon Complex on the 1st. / Gwacheon - Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Former Prosecutor Seok said, "Now, as the head of the prosecution, if Prosecutor General Yoon recognizes the ruling party's pseudo-prosecution reform campaign and the attempt to dismantle the prosecution beyond devastation not simply as a fight to remove himself but as an act that harms the country's justice and criminal justice system, he should rather show the determination to block that unjust attempt by saying 'cut off my head'."

He added, "The regime is finite, and Yoon's term will also end in a few months," and said, "That might be the way for the prosecution organization, which will continue to exist even after his term ends, to survive somewhat less damaged, and also the way for Yoon himself to survive."

Earlier, on November 30 last year, ahead of the hearing on the provisional injunction to suspend Prosecutor General Yoon's duties, former Prosecutor Seok predicted that Yoon would be "dismissed."

At that time, former Prosecutor Seok said, "The disciplinary committee will probably turn a blind eye using forced excuses such as responsibility for judicial surveillance and attempt the highest level of disciplinary action, that is dismissal, against Yoon," and added, "If Yoon is dismissed, he should express his feelings about being dismissed to the public even in front of the main gate of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and that might become his first long-lasting street press conference."

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