Conflict Escalation Between Ministry of Justice and Supreme Prosecutors' Office Heads... Park "Im Eun-jeong Must Be Cautious" · Cho "No Dividing Sides"

Park Beom-gye "Should be cautious in revealing one's intentions" vs Jo Nam-gwan "Must not divide in the judicial domain"

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The heads of the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office have launched internal crackdowns. Park Beom-gye, Minister of Justice, told Lim Eun-jeong, Researcher at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Inspection Policy Institute, "I hope you would be a bit more cautious in revealing your intentions," while Cho Nam-gwan, Acting Prosecutor General, stated, "There should be no division into factions." These measures are interpreted as steps taken in consideration of the risk of escalating conflicts between the Ministry of Justice and the prosecution following the case of former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook.

On the 24th, Minister Park, on his way to work at the Ministry of Justice Gwacheon building, commented on the controversy caused by Researcher Lim posting internal meeting contents on social media, saying, "It falls within the scope of freedom of expression, like prosecutors posting opinions on the prosecution's internal network." He explained that there is a difference in confidentiality between officially informing certain media outlets of the official meeting process, content, and results, and Lim posting her opinions. Earlier, Researcher Lim publicly revealed that when she reported that the prosecution intended to criminally charge a detainee related to the alleged perjury in the case of former Prime Minister Han, former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol designated the head of Inspection Division 3 as the lead prosecutor and excluded her from related duties.

However, Minister Park said, "She has to take on some duties in this inspection, so I hope she would be a bit more cautious in revealing her intentions from that perspective," adding, "As a minister, I express my concern and request, hoping it will also help her perform her inspection duties." In fact, Researcher Lim has been accused by civic groups of leaking official secrets and is facing criticism that her participation in the joint inspection by the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office is inappropriate.

Acting Prosecutor General Cho, who is leading the Supreme Prosecutors' Office following former Prosecutor General Yoon's resignation, also made remarks mindful of internal conflicts within the prosecution. At the expanded executive meeting of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office held that morning, Acting Prosecutor General Cho said, "Our prosecution has been often described by the media as divided into factions such as the OO line or OO close associates, and we ourselves unconsciously act that way and even suspect the other side," adding, "While identifying friend or foe is the most important factor in politics and war, in the judicial realm of investigation and trial, we must not divide into our side and the opposing side."

He continued, "If we start dividing sides even in the judicial realm, we cannot establish justice and fairness," and added, "What unites our prosecution is the value of justice and fairness, and more specifically, legal principles and evidence."

In particular, Acting Prosecutor General Cho conveyed detailed instructions regarding the 'Guidelines on Handling Clues to Separate Crimes Discovered During Direct Prosecution Investigations.' He emphasized, "From now on, investigations of separate crimes will be allowed only within a very limited scope, and even in permitted cases, the principle will be to separate the investigative subjects," and "Detention investigations should be limited to the minimum necessary in cases corresponding to flight risk or evidence destruction, in line with the purpose of the law."

Additionally, he stated, "In light of the purpose of prosecution reform, it is necessary to re-examine the practice of requesting detention warrants in most direct investigations," urging that non-detention investigations and trials should be the principle. "While establishing justice, excessive measures tend to become harsh, and harsh investigations cannot be accepted by the parties involved and may be perceived as retaliation," he said, adding, "Even if the prosecution directly detains someone, if the reasons for detention are resolved, except in serious crimes, please proactively consider boldly prosecuting without detention."

Meanwhile, at the expanded executive meeting of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office that day, the current agenda topics included 'Cooperation plans among departments to eradicate real estate speculation offenders' related to investigations into speculation allegations involving employees of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), and 'Measures to guarantee human rights and defense rights in investigative procedures' as a prosecution reform task.

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