Justice Minister Jeong Seongho: "All-Day Meetings With Lawyers by Yoon Seok-yeol and Others Are Problematic"

by Byun Seonjin

Published 17 Apr.2026 10:13(KST)

Pointed Out During Monthly Work Meeting Livestreamed on YouTube

Yonhap News Agency

Justice Minister Jeong Seong-ho pointed out on the 16th, "Former President Yoon Seok-yeol should not have behaved like that either. When he keeps changing his lawyers throughout the day and meets with them, it causes inconvenience to others."

During the Ministry of Justice's first monthly work meeting livestreamed on YouTube that day, Minister Jeong stated, "Former high-ranking politicians and business tycoons spend the whole day meeting with their lawyers," adding, "While the right of defendants to meet with their legal counsel should be guaranteed as much as possible, doing so all day long is problematic." According to the Ministry of Justice, during former President Yoon's two detention periods up to the 6th of this month, he had 538 meetings over 319 days, averaging 1.7 meetings per day.

Minister Jeong said, "If some wealthy individuals monopolize a meeting room all day by calling in lawyers, other attorneys have nowhere to meet their clients," further emphasizing, "Even fundamental rights such as visitation rights can be limited for reasons of public welfare, order, or national security." He then instructed the Corrections Bureau to review measures to resolve the issue of certain inmates monopolizing visitation rooms.

Minister Jeong also criticized a report from the Human Rights Bureau, which proposed raising the statutory penalties for child abuse in response to a recent series of child abuse cases.

Minister Jeong dismissed the proposal to increase statutory penalties as "an outdated approach," urging, "We should first consider how to build and cooperate on a system that can respond effectively with local governments and the police." His remarks highlighted the urgency of establishing a close-knit cooperation system among relevant agencies, rather than simply strengthening punitive measures as an after-the-fact response.

On this day, Minister Jeong received work reports from the Prosecution Division, Crime Prevention Policy Bureau, Human Rights Bureau, and Immigration and Foreign Policy Headquarters at the Ministry of Justice. The meeting covered topics such as improving the treatment of juvenile offenders to prevent recidivism, responding to election-related crimes, and building an integrated support system for crime victims.