Yoon Seok-yeol's Side "Court Ruling Surprising and Hard to Accept," Plans to Appeal

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The legal team of former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol strongly opposed the court's ruling that upheld the two-month suspension penalty he received from the Ministry of Justice during his tenure and announced plans to appeal.

On the 14th, Yoon's legal representatives, lawyers Lee Wankyu, Lee Seok-woong, and Son Kyung-sik, issued a statement saying, "We will thoroughly review the judgment and actively challenge the trial court's factual errors and legal misunderstandings in the appellate court." They added, "Investigations and trials must be conducted solely based on law and evidence, and we are deeply concerned whether political bias or prejudice influenced the judgment." The legal team also stated, "It is very surprising that the court dismissed all of the plaintiff (former Prosecutor General Yoon)'s claims," and "It is difficult to accept the reasons for the differing views from the previous trial court that handled the case."

The Administrative 12th Division of the Seoul Administrative Court (Presiding Judge Jung Yong-seok) ruled on the same day that three out of four disciplinary charges against former Prosecutor General Yoon were valid and that there were no procedural issues with the disciplinary process, dismissing all of Yoon's requests to cancel the disciplinary action. Yoon's legal team claims this contrasts with the previous trial court (then Presiding Judge Hong Soon-wook), which temporarily suspended the disciplinary effect last December upon Yoon's application before the court's regular personnel reshuffle changed its members.

Yoon's legal team also argued against the recognition of the so-called 'judge surveillance' document's creation and distribution as grounds for discipline, stating, "This issue was not even raised as a problem at the Judges' Meeting, and law firms are producing similar documents." Regarding the obstruction of Channel A's inspection and investigation, they said, "It is unacceptable that the court accepted unilateral statements from certain biased prosecution officials known as the 'Choo Mi-ae line' without question."

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