Yoon Holds Tea Time with Reporters Two Days in a Row... "Is the Current Government Self-Critiquing That Prosecutorial Reform Hasn't Been Achieved in 5 Years?"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol expressed discomfort on the 24th regarding Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye’s opposition to his pledge to strengthen prosecutorial independence, asking, "Is this a self-assessment that prosecutorial reform has not been achieved in five years?"

On the morning of the 24th, as Yoon arrived at the transition committee office at the Financial Training Institute in Tongui-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, he stopped by the tented press room set up in front of the committee office to have a tea time with reporters and made these remarks.

When asked by reporters whether he had seen Minister Park’s press conference the previous day, Yoon replied, "I don’t have time to watch the minister’s press briefing. I only heard that the position differs from that of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office." When a reporter explained that Minister Park had expressed opposition to the judicial pledge, Yoon retorted, "This government’s prosecutorial reform was meant to protect the neutrality of the prosecution, and it has been five years, so is this a self-assessment that it has not been achieved?"

Minister Park had expressed opposition to Yoon’s judicial pledge during a press conference the day before. Yoon emphasized the abolition of the Minister of Justice’s investigative command authority and granting the prosecution budgetary authority as part of his judicial reform pledges.

In response, the transition committee decided to postpone the Ministry of Justice’s scheduled work report for the day. Lee Yong-ho, secretary of the Political, Judicial, and Administrative Affairs Subcommittee of the transition committee, said at an emergency press conference held at the annex of the Korea Financial Training Institute in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, "We cannot contain our anger," adding, "We judged that the Ministry of Justice’s work report scheduled for this morning was meaningless, and we thought it necessary to have a cooling-off period and time for reflection, so we promptly notified the Ministry of Justice of the postponement of the work report schedule."

Yoon said, "I rather think that giving (the prosecution) independent authority is what independence means. And the minister’s investigative command is actually unnecessary when tried," adding, "It is a matter that can be autonomously coordinated when there are differing opinions." He continued, "Unless it is highly confidential, the minister is informed through reports to the Ministry of Justice. Then various opinions are expressed. It is not a command concept," and dismissed concerns by saying, "When working according to fairness and common sense, how could there be cases of differing opinions? It is about adjusting."

Regarding the guarantee of Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo’s term, he gave a fundamental answer, saying, "All public officials exist for the people by handling their duties fairly and reasonably according to laws and principles, so shouldn’t it be that way?"

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