Choo Mi-ae: "Yoon is full of a sense of privilege... Challenging anti-constitutional and anti-rule of law"

Choo Mi-ae: "Jeon Du-hwan Also Claimed Justice"

Former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae is giving a speech declaring her candidacy for the 20th presidential election at a studio in Heyri, Paju, Gyeonggi Province on the 23rd. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] On the 29th, former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae directly criticized former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, a leading opposition presidential candidate, who officially declared his candidacy for the presidential election, saying, "Even Jeon Du-hwan claimed justice."

On the evening of the same day, Choo appeared on MBC Radio's 'Pyo Chang-won's News High Kick' and said, "Yoon's fairness, justice, and freedom are based on the use of prosecutorial power, so they are not understood as genuine fairness and rule of law that resonate with the people's livelihood."

Earlier, at a press conference that day, Yoon said, "There is significance in the convention that a former Prosecutor General does not run for an elected office," but added, "That is not an absolute principle."

In response, Choo directly criticized, "It appeared to be a challenge against the constitution and the rule of law." She pointed out, "If harsh prosecutorial investigations are conducted on others' exceptions as illegal, but one's own exceptions are considered privileges that the public will understand, that is truly steeped in a sense of privilege."

Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol is answering questions from the press at the presidential election candidacy press conference held on the 29th at the Maeheon Yun Bong-gil Memorial Hall in Seocho-gu, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Choo also mentioned former Board of Audit and Inspection Chairman Choi Jae-hyung, who resigned from his post, saying, "The resignation of the Prosecutor General or the Chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection is too much of a crisis for democracy," and criticized, "Not only Yoon, but there has never been such a Prosecutor General before. This is an unprecedented event in constitutional history. Such things should not happen again."

Choo also refuted claims that she had elevated Yoon's political stature. She said, "The media framed it as a Choo-Yoon conflict," adding, "For the first time in 70 years, we were trying to move toward advanced judicial reform to protect the people's human rights, but in resisting that, the essence was overlooked and it was turned into a conflict narrative."

Regarding the so-called Yoon Seok-yeol presidential hopeful theory, she added, "It was created by the media and the opposition party," saying, "Because there are no decent opposition candidates, they raised Yoon Seok-yeol like adopting a child, nurturing him as a candidate."

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