Transition Team "Is This Sabotage to Obstruct Handover?" Park Beom-gye Publicly Criticizes

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Kim Hyemin, Geum Boryeong] The transition committee of President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol sharply criticized Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye for publicly criticizing the prosecution reform pledge, stating that "it is enough to be suspected as sabotage (deliberate destructive act) aimed at obstructing a smooth transfer of power."

On the 24th, Won Il-hee, the senior deputy spokesperson of the transition committee, held an urgent briefing on current issues at the committee office in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, saying, "The abolition of the prosecution's investigative command authority by the Minister of Justice and securing independent budget authority for the prosecution are issues that the Democratic Party of Korea has long demanded and advocated in the past."

He added, "The transition committee expresses strong regret over similar incidents occurring during the transfer of power led by Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye and Democratic Party floor leader Yoon Ho-jung (co-chairman of the emergency countermeasure committee)," and criticized, "Fundamentally, it can be seen as a self-concealment attempt to prevent the resumption of investigations into power-related corruption that occurred over the past five years and to hide the reality of power-related corruption."

Senior Deputy Spokesperson Won continued, "There is suspicion about the intention to even disrupt business reporting during the transfer of power," and said, "The transition committee will prepare specific measures in line with the pledge policy."

Meanwhile, Minister Park stated the previous day, "The minister's investigative command authority over the prosecution is based on democratic control of the prosecution and the principle of responsible administration, so it is still necessary," expressing opposition to President-elect Yoon's prosecution pledge.

Following this, the political, judicial, and administrative subcommittee of the transition committee raised issues with Minister Park's remarks and canceled and postponed the Ministry of Justice's business report scheduled for that morning. The Ministry of Justice's business report is expected to be held early next week.

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