'Verbal Clash with Han Dong-hoon' People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy: "One Year of Yoon Government, Creating a 'Prosecutors' Nation'"

Publication of Yoon Administration Prosecutor Analysis Report

On the 17th, the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD), which exchanged heated words with Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon, criticized in a prosecution analysis report that "the first year of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration was a year of building a 'nation of prosecutors'." On the same day, PSPD held a press briefing at its office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, to announce the publication of the report titled 'Yoon Seok-yeol Government Prosecution＋ Report 2023 - A Nation of Prosecutors, Now One Year.'

On the morning of the 17th, officials from the Judicial Watch Center of the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy held a press briefing at the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the publication of the report "Yoon Seok-yeol Government Prosecution+ Report 2023 - The Country of Prosecutors, Now 1 Year." [Image source=Yonhap News]

Choi Young-seung, an adjunct professor at Hanyang University Law School, stated, "President Yoon appointed his former prosecutor acquaintances to key positions in the Ministry of Justice and prosecution as a prelude to political investigations," and evaluated that "the prosecution investigations during the first year of the Yoon administration were 'politically biased investigations measured with a tilted scale'." He added, "In the past, political prosecutors abused prosecutorial power by closely aligning with the ruling forces, but now political prosecutors have evolved themselves into 'prosecutorial politics' that influence politics," and said, "It has reached the stage of prosecutor governance, where prosecutors directly exercise ruling power." He further claimed, "Prosecutorial investigations have led to political investigations that lost the balance of fairness, and investigations into the president's family have become a sanctuary. Moreover, there has been silence regarding the October 29 Itaewon disaster."

Professor Yoo Seung-ik of Handong University said, "There is a clear bias toward prosecutors in personnel appointments," and evaluated, "Prosecutorial dominance is destroying the entire administrative system and creating unconstitutional administrative practices." He also warned, "We must be cautious about the possibility that prosecutor politics will be accepted as the 'new normal' of the political system," adding, "This is the most dangerous red alert for Korean politics, which democratized after military rule in 1987."

Earlier, on the 10th, PSPD held a press conference condemning the first year of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration and pointed to Minister Han Dong-hoon as the top high-ranking official who should be replaced first. In response, Minister Han issued a statement saying, "I don't know if a political organization is pretending to be a neutral civic group," and engaged in a public verbal dispute.

Meanwhile, this year marks the 15th publication of PSPD's prosecution report. The report includes the current status of prosecutorial personnel and organizational structure, progress on 14 major prosecution investigations, and six major cases investigated by the police special investigation headquarters and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO). The report will be sent to prosecutors at the level of chief prosecutors nationwide and to key related agencies.

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