"Rather, Choo Mi-ae is at least brave"... Cold Reaction Inside Prosecution to Park Beom-gye's Investigation Command

Minister Park Posts Photo Reviewing Records on Facebook

Photo of Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye reviewing records related to the perjury case in Han Myeong-sook's trial, posted on his Facebook on the morning of the 18th. / Photo by Minister Park Beom-gye's Facebook.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] There is a cold response within the prosecution regarding Justice Minister Park Beom-gye’s investigative directive to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office chiefs’ meeting to “deliberate on the presence of false testimony obstruction charges and the possibility of indictment against Kim, who testified as a witness in the political funds law violation trial of former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook 10 years ago.”

In particular, many prosecutors express disappointment at Minister Park’s approach of avoiding personal responsibility by having the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office chiefs’ meeting handle the indictment decision instead of directly ordering prosecution through the investigative directive.

On the 18th, negative reactions emerged within the prosecution regarding the investigative directive issued by Minister Park the previous day.

While there are complaints about the directive effectively ordering prosecution on a case that had already been closed without charges after review by the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office research officers, more prosecutors criticized Minister Park’s attitude of trying to evade responsibility by stating that he would “follow the results of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office chiefs’ meeting discussions.”

Prosecutor A said, “Former Minister Choo Mi-ae at least seemed brave in comparison,” and added, “Looking at yesterday’s investigative directive, the content is to prosecute, but the form says to have the chiefs’ meeting deliberate, which reveals the minister’s intention not to take direct responsibility.”

Another prosecutor B said, “Among prosecutors, there is talk that it might have been better to just let Prosecutor Lim Eun-jeong handle the indictment,” and pointed out, “If the charges cannot be proven at trial, the prosecutor who indicted is ultimately responsible, but this case seems difficult to prove the charges. The minister probably felt burdened to issue a direct order to prosecute for that reason.”

Prosecutorial executive C expressed dissatisfaction, saying, “In the last personnel appointment for chief prosecutors, they agreed to resend the personnel plan but suddenly announced it, backstabbing Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl; when the Corruption Investigation Office sent the Kim Hak-eui case back to the prosecution, they removed prosecutors from the investigation team; and now issuing this kind of investigative directive?if anything, it’s worse than Minister Choo Mi-ae.”

Although the statute of limitations is nearing expiration, there are voices suspicious of the background for reopening a case from 10 years ago.

Chief Prosecutor D said, “The minister’s investigative directive seems to consider investigation not only of the witness but also of the prosecutors at the time for obstruction of false testimony charges. Bringing up the case of former Prime Minister Han, which was already confirmed guilty by the Supreme Court, again seems like a move conscious of the election or an attempt to cover up recent controversies such as the Kim Hak-eui case.”

Meanwhile, around 8 a.m. that day, Minister Park posted a photo on his Facebook showing him reading a pile of records related to the Han Myeong-sook false testimony obstruction trial case stacked on his desk, along with the caption “Records.”

At the Ministry of Justice briefing on the investigative directive the previous day, Ryu Hyuk, the Ministry’s Inspector General, mentioned that “the minister reviewed 6,600 pages of records late into the night,” which appears to emphasize that the investigative directive was issued after thorough consideration by Minister Park.

In response, Prosecutor E commented, “Perhaps because he is a former politician, he seems to have strong showmanship.”

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