Park Beom-gye "No Immediate Plan for Prosecutor General Candidate Recommendation Committee... Many Factors to Consider"

On the morning of the 8th, Park Beom-gye, Minister of Justice, answered questions from reporters as he arrived at the Ministry of Justice in the Government Complex Gwacheon, Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi Province. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] Park Beom-gye, Minister of Justice, said on the 12th regarding the schedule for holding the Prosecutor General Candidate Recommendation Committee to recommend the next Prosecutor General candidate, "There are many factors to consider," and added, "There is no immediate plan."

On the morning of the same day, while on his way to the Government Complex Gwacheon, Minister Park told reporters, "It is important to quickly resolve the current (Prosecutor General) vacancy, but it is also important to fully consider many factors and reflect them well."

When asked by reporters whether the recommendation committee would be held within this week, Minister Park replied, "There seem to be many factors to consider, so it is difficult to predict the procedure," and added, "There is no immediate plan, and I think we should proceed more cautiously by considering various factors."

The Ministry of Justice completed the nomination process for Prosecutor General candidates on the 22nd of last month and has been conducting verification work on the candidates to be discussed by the recommendation committee.

Meanwhile, Minister Park also addressed the issue of the recent controversy over the disclosure of suspect information.

Minister Park had ordered the prosecution to verify the facts after reports emerged about the involvement of Lee Kwang-cheol, Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs at the Blue House, during the investigation into allegations of illegal departure related to former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui and the investigation into Prosecutor Lee Gyu-won's alleged false preparation and leakage of the 'Yoon Joong-chun meeting report.'

Some have criticized the Ministry of Justice for raising issues only in this case while remaining silent about real-time reports on investigations by the prosecution or police in past investigations into deep-rooted evils, judicial manipulation, and the recent LH incident, calling it "Naeronambul" (double standards: "romance when I do it, adultery when others do").

Minister Park said, "I think the improvement of the crime of disclosure of suspect information, which harmonizes reality and ideals well, and institutional improvements are very important," and added, "I hope future-oriented institutional improvements will be made while considering the public's right to know, the suspect's human rights, and the confidentiality of the investigation process."

He continued, "I hope we do not hear accusations of 'Naeronambul,'" and added, "I think it is wise to look back on past cases to refer to them for institutional improvements."

When asked whether he plans to receive reports on fact verification regarding the disclosure of suspect information from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office or the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, he replied, "Receiving detailed reports itself could be seen as intervention or interference, so I will avoid it as much as possible," but added, "I am aware of the general direction."

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