The Renewed 'Yoon Seok-yeol-Jo Guk' Dispute

Controversy Over the Truth of Yoon Seok-yeol's Statement "I Will Only Cut Out Joguk"

Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol is holding a press conference declaring his political participation on the 29th of last month at the Maehun Yun Bong-gil Memorial Hall in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol is facing sharp attacks from the political sphere immediately after declaring his entry into politics. Following allegations related to his family the previous day, on the 1st, a battle over the truth continued regarding whether Yoon ever said he would "cut out only Cho Kuk." In a press conference on the 29th of last month, Yoon stated that before starting the investigation into former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, he never mentioned anything related to the Blue House, but the ruling coalition quickly raised claims to overturn this.

Kim Eui-gyeom, a member of the Open Democratic Party and former presidential spokesperson, appeared on the radio that day and said, "Former Prosecutor General Yoon used expressions like 'I know about the private equity fund well, but Cho Kuk is a bad guy,' and before the raid, he pleaded to the president, saying he should not be appointed and asked for a chance to meet and explain in person." Kim added, "When that was not accepted, it turned into a kind of show of force, a use of power (the raid)." He further confirmed, "At that time, Cho Kuk had already received his appointment letter, but the Blue House questioned whether this was an attempt to shake the president's personnel authority or resistance to prosecutorial reform, and Yoon said, 'No, we just need to cut out Cho Kuk, cutting him out is actually the way to help the president.'" He also added, "Yoon clearly said, 'I will order the raid to make Cho Kuk fall,' to former Minister of Justice Park Sang-ki."

Kim also claimed that there was already an internal investigation report on the private equity fund at the prosecution before the investigation into Cho Kuk began. This suggests that the report was the spark for the investigation, contradicting Yoon’s statement that the investigation naturally started due to media reports.

In response to the series of offensives, Yoon’s side said they would "not respond officially." Spokesperson Lee Sang-rok said in a phone call that day, "Basically, it is not appropriate to respond to every single incident that happens in the political sphere," and added, "This is neither a campaign issue nor a crime, so I’m not sure if it is something to respond to officially." On his third day since entering politics, Yoon did not have any separate schedule. In the press conference, Yoon had responded, "I have never said to any Blue House official that I would 'cut out only someone' or mentioned private equity funds, nor should I. Giving a signal to announce that before a raid is against the common sense of investigation."

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