Hong Ik-pyo: "The Ministry of Justice and Prosecution Are at the Center of the Yoon Government's Administrative Dysfunction"

Democratic Party Floor Leader MBC Radio Interview
"Yoon Prosecutor General Politics... Han Dong-hoon Leading the Front"

As the final National Assembly inspection of the 21st National Assembly begins on the 10th, Hong Ik-pyo, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated, "We will definitely raise issues and correct the de facto privatization of power or political behavior of the Ministry of Justice and the prosecution."

On the 4th, Hong appeared on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' and said, "At the center of the Yoon Seok-yeol government's national dysfunction was the Ministry of Justice and the prosecution."

Hong pointed out, "I think the president did not engage in politics but still acted as the Prosecutor General in political matters," adding, "And leading that was Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon."

Hong Ik-pyo, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is holding a press briefing on Chuseok public sentiment at the National Assembly on the afternoon of the 3rd. Photo by Yonhap News

He continued, "I am not particularly interested in the whereabouts of Han Dong-hoon, a mere Minister of Justice," but added, "However, the reason we demanded President Yoon to dismiss Minister Han was that if the president wants to change the national policy direction, we cannot simply ask the president to step down. Therefore, it is necessary for the president to symbolically acknowledge his mistakes, apologize, and dismiss the relevant cabinet member as a measure to change the national policy direction."

Regarding his statement about deciding on the impeachment motion against Minister Han after the National Assembly inspection, he explained, "We need time to listen to public opinion and carefully consider it, and secondly, since the inspection will take place in October, we do not want the issue to be diverted by other matters."

Hong explained, "There are no plenary session schedules after October, so even if we try to propose and pass an impeachment motion, it is impossible to do so in October because no plenary sessions are scheduled."

In response to the suggestion that the decision to propose an impeachment motion depends on Minister Han's political candidacy for the general election, he dismissed it, saying, "It is wrong to restrict his political activities for that purpose. The most important thing when impeaching or dismissing a cabinet member is illegal conduct."

Hong said, "If you look at the role of the Minister of Justice, they are not supposed to intervene in individual cases, but it is impossible to erase the impression that he is very directly and closely involved in individual cases," adding, "There are many issues, so we need to examine and judge whether those issues are illegal, and also consider various national situations, especially the president's request to change the national policy direction."

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