‘Yoon Removal Investigation’ Ministry of Justice Inspection Committee Advisory Regulations to Change

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] A disciplinary regulation that mandates the advisory procedure of the Disciplinary Committee when inspecting important matters of the Ministry of Justice will be implemented.

On the 2nd, the Ministry of Justice announced, "We have amended the 'Ministry of Justice Disciplinary Regulation' (Ministry of Justice Ordinance), which changed the advisory procedure of the Ministry of Justice Disciplinary Committee to a discretionary procedure, and will enforce it from the 3rd."

The Ministry of Justice explained, "At that time, the Ministry of Justice amended the regulation to inspect the Prosecutor General without control from the Disciplinary Committee, which had a majority of external members, in order to target the Prosecutor General. Since then, criticisms have arisen, such as concerns about the impairment of prosecutorial neutrality due to arbitrary exercise of disciplinary authority," adding, "Based on the recognition that external opinions must be heard regarding inspections of important matters, the Ministry of Justice has revised and restored the regulations related to the advisory procedure of the Disciplinary Committee as a mandatory procedure."

Previously, former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae amended the regulation in November 2020, when the disciplinary inspection of President Yoon Seok-yeol, then Prosecutor General, was underway, changing the advisory procedure of the Disciplinary Committee from mandatory to discretionary. However, at the Disciplinary Committee meeting held at the request of committee members, all attending members unanimously expressed the opinion that disciplinary action against Prosecutor General Yoon was inappropriate.

The Ministry of Justice has also recently revised internal regulations so that when conducting important disciplinary investigations on prosecutors or general staff, the disciplinary officer must obtain final approval from the disciplinary supervisor. According to the amended 'Ministry of Justice Delegation and Final Approval Regulation', disciplinary investigations in the Disciplinary Officer's Office are divided into 'important matters' and 'general matters.' The Ministry of Justice designated the disciplinary supervisor as the final approver for important matters and the disciplinary officer as the final approver for general matters.

Previously, the disciplinary officer exercised final approval authority regardless of the severity of the case. For important disciplinary matters, the drafter's level was also raised from 'practical level' to 'prosecutor.' Before this regulation was in place, when President Yoon Seok-yeol was Prosecutor General in 2020 and under disciplinary inspection, a 'disciplinary supervisor bypass incident' occurred.

At that time, Park Eun-jung, the Ministry of Justice disciplinary officer, led the practical work of the disciplinary inspection and disciplinary request against President Yoon in 2020 without reporting to her superior, disciplinary supervisor Ryu Hyuk, which was criticized as 'superior bypass.'

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