[Exclusive] Yoon Seok-yeol Listed in Prosecutor History After Three Months... "Reformed Prosecutorial Power"

Recorded as a President Who Reduced Direct Investigations and Strengthened Human Rights... Controversies Such as 'Disciplinary Actions and Job Exclusion' Are Omitted

Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol is expressing his intention to resign from the position of Prosecutor General as he arrives at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 4th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol has officially been listed as one of the past Prosecutor Generals of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office after three months. The Supreme Prosecutors' Office has traditionally summarized and disclosed the major achievements of a Prosecutor General upon their term completion or resignation. Yoon, who has emerged as a leading opposition presidential candidate, was recorded in the prosecution history as having "reformed the exercise of prosecutorial power to realize a fair prosecution and a prosecution for the people."

According to the legal community on the 3rd, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office publicly summarized Yoon's major achievements during his 20-month tenure the previous afternoon, about three months after his resignation. Although it compiled evaluations from inside and outside the prosecution and did not include specific mistakes, it remains a permanent record in prosecution history, which could be a sensitive point for Yoon as he embarks on his presidential campaign.

Yoon was described as a "Prosecutor General who exercised prosecutorial power to realize a fair prosecution and a prosecution for the people." He was also credited with pushing reforms prioritizing "the protection of citizens' human rights" across investigative practices and internal culture.

The summary also included the significant reduction of direct investigation departments, such as abolishing special investigation divisions in three prosecution offices. After taking office in 2019, Yoon renamed the Special Investigation Division (Teuksu-bu), a representative department for recognized investigations, to the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division. Notably, he converted the special investigation divisions of all prosecution offices except for the Seoul, Daegu, and Gwangju offices into criminal divisions. The Public Security Division, which handled cases related to national security, elections, and labor, was also renamed the Public Investigation Division at that time.

A summary of former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol and his achievements featured in the Prosecutor General's Hall of Fame corner.

The complete abolition of public summons and strict restrictions on late-night and long-duration interrogations also remained among Yoon's achievements. This aligned with the current administration's principle of "non-public suspect summons" and was a follow-up to the "Investigation Public Relations Guidelines for Human Rights Protection" created by the Ministry of Justice in December 2019 during Minister Cho Kuk's tenure. However, the first beneficiaries of the abolition of public summons and the prosecution office photo line were all Cho's family members, which sparked controversy.

Yoon also ordered a strict separation between investigations and public relations. In October 2019, as part of prosecutorial reform measures, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office introduced the professional public relations officer system. At that time, the office stated, "There were controversies that investigation details were leaked during media coverage of high-profile cases, infringing on the honor and human rights of those involved," and thus transferred public relations duties from investigators to dedicated professional public relations officers.

The guideline requiring prosecutors to conduct preliminary interviews with suspects for whom arrest warrants were requested by the police before filing the warrant was also mentioned. All these measures were linked to strengthening human rights, and it was evaluated that "measures to enhance human rights in investigative procedures were implemented, such as expanding the accompaniment of trusted persons, strengthening pre-checks on travel bans, improving search and seizure practices, and mandating video recording during direct investigations." Additionally, some contemporary issues were included, such as strengthening punishments for COVID-19-related crimes and digital sex crimes like the n-th room case.

However, controversial issues during his term, like those of previous Prosecutor Generals, were omitted. Yoon was the first Prosecutor General in constitutional history to receive disciplinary and job suspension orders from the Minister of Justice and is still awaiting court rulings. Especially after his resignation, he has faced daily criticism from the ruling party over family-related allegations. While some of this stems from being targeted after investigating the administration following his appointment as Prosecutor General recommended by the ruling party, his recent active external engagements as a leading presidential candidate have also influenced this.

Reactions have begun not only in the legal community but also in the political sphere. A representative from the ruling party's office in the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee said, "The historical record of the Prosecutor General as a courtesy to the retired Prosecutor General means that the era and political evaluation of Yoon will ultimately be decided by the people," adding, "However, since these achievements are disclosed to all citizens, a more objective evaluation process seems necessary."

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