Park Beom-gye "Oppose Abolishing Minister's Investigation Command... Yoon and Prosecutors Would Understand Just by Eye Contact"

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol (left) and Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] Park Beom-gye, Minister of Justice, publicly expressed opposition to President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol's campaign pledge to abolish the prosecution chief's investigative command authority.

On the 14th, in a media interview, Minister Park said, "President-elect Yoon was elected after serving as Prosecutor General, so most prosecutors have at least direct or indirect connections and ties with him," adding, "I think they have a relationship where they can tell what the other is thinking just by looking into each other's eyes."

He continued, "In this situation, I do not believe that abolishing the investigative command authority guarantees the prosecution's political neutrality or the fairness of investigations," emphasizing, "Rather, since the Prosecutor General became president, the investigative command authority is a mechanism that allows transparent and official verification of the fairness of investigations."

He further stated, "If the investigative command authority is removed, there will be no way to verify frontline prosecution decisions or investigation results, and disputes over fairness will intensify," adding, "There is no equation that says investigations become fairer simply because the prosecution is independent."

The Justice Minister's investigative command over the Prosecutor General has been used restrictively to guarantee the prosecution's investigative independence and political neutrality since the enactment of the Prosecutors' Office Act in 1949, with only one instance during the Roh Moo-hyun administration. However, it was exercised twice during former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae's tenure and once during Minister Park Beom-gye's tenure.

Regarding this, Minister Park explained, "Former Minister Choo's investigative command was related to the content of the cases. There was no investigative command over cases targeting power or the Blue House, such as the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant (economic feasibility manipulation suspicion) investigation or the Ulsan (mayoral election interference suspicion) case investigation. My investigative command also pertained to procedural guidance."

On President-elect Yoon's judicial pledge for the prosecution's budget independence, he stated, "Measures to secure transparency in the prosecution's budget execution (such as special activity funds) must be discussed together for budget formulation independence to be possible," describing it as a "conditional positive."

Regarding the debate over introducing a special prosecutor for the Daejang-dong development lobbying and preferential treatment suspicions, he said, "The last presidential election was called a 'legal presidential election' because many current issue cases were major points of contention," adding, "It is unfortunate for the country and the people that this issue remains unresolved and continues to cause controversy even during the 20th presidential administration."

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