Park Beom-gye, Pushes to Restore Prosecutor General's Command Authority but Halts

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Eun-mo] On the 31st, Park Beom-gye, Minister of Justice, halted discussions on restoring the Prosecutor General's investigative command authority over the Channel A case involving Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon. The Ministry of Justice explained that the discussions were stopped because the true intent was distorted and misreported by some media outlets during the internal review stage.

The Ministry of Justice stated in the afternoon, "Minister Park was reviewing restoring the Prosecutor General's investigative command authority, which was excluded twice by former Minister Choo Mi-ae, across all cases. However, since the true intent was distorted in published articles causing concerns of misunderstanding, the discussions have been suspended."

Earlier that day around lunchtime, JoongAng Ilbo reported that Minister Park had instructed the Prosecutor's Office to restore the Prosecutor General's investigative command authority over the Channel A case. The report suggested that by returning the command authority to Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office would be prevented from dismissing the case against Prosecutor Han.

The Minister of Justice can only direct the Prosecutor General regarding specific cases. To prevent Prosecutor Han from receiving a dismissal, Prosecutor General Kim must hold the command authority so that the Minister can instruct the Prosecutor General not to dismiss the case.

Although Minister Park halted discussions citing "distortion of true intent," legal circles anticipate that he may restore the Prosecutor General's command authority during his term. In December last year, Minister Park also stated at a press conference with legal reporters that he would review the restoration of investigative command authority after hearing Prosecutor General Kim's opinion.

Currently, there are six cases from which the Prosecutor General's command authority has been excluded. In July 2020, then-Minister Choo Mi-ae ordered the suspension of procedures when Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl attempted to convene a professional investigative advisory panel regarding the Channel A case, instructing to guarantee the independence of the investigation. In October of the same year, she further directed to withdraw from commanding five additional cases, including the Lime Asset Management lobbying allegations, the case involving Yoon Seok-youl's wife, and the case of former Yongsan Tax Office chief Yoon Woo-jin.

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