Choo Mi-ae Explains Controversy Over Indictment Non-Disclosure: "Park's State Affairs Manipulation Is Constitutional Court Case, Election Interference Is Criminal Trial, So They Are Unrelated"

Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae is attending the opening ceremony of the Ministry of Justice Spokesperson Office 'Uijeonggwan' held at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 6th.
Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae directly explained the controversy that arose after she decided on the 6th to keep the indictment in the Blue House 'ordered investigation and election interference' suspicion case confidential.

At around 11:15 a.m. that day, Minister Choo attended the opening ceremony of the 'Uijeonggwan' room, a sub-room of the Ministry of Justice spokesperson office at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, and when asked by reporters whether the decision to keep the indictment confidential was inconsistent with her words and actions during her time as party leader, she said, "(The case of former President Park) is within the realm of constitutional adjudication, and this case (election interference suspicion) is a criminal trial, so they are unrelated." She meant that the state affairs manipulation case involving former President Park, which reached constitutional adjudication, should not be equated with the election interference suspicion case, which is a criminal case.

In November 2016, when she was the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, Minister Choo referred to the indictment of a person involved in the state affairs manipulation case who named former President Park Geun-hye as an accomplice on her social media service (SNS) Facebook, pointing out that "former President Park is a joint principal offender related to state affairs manipulation and a suspect who led the crime."

Regarding the question of whether the Ministry of Justice's refusal to submit the full indictment to the National Assembly violates the Constitution, the Criminal Procedure Act, or the National Assembly Act, she said, "It is not that we did not submit materials, but that we submitted materials somewhere between the prosecution's press release and the full indictment."

She continued, "According to the National Assembly Testimony and Inspection Act, there is an obligation to submit materials upon the National Assembly's request, but there is no standard for how far this obligation extends," adding, "We considered that the principle of presumption of innocence under the Constitution must be respected and that higher laws must be observed, and we responded to the submission of materials to that extent."

Furthermore, she said, "(The indictment disclosure of officials like Choi Kang-wook, Secretary for Public Office Discipline) was for a single defendant, but this (election interference suspicion) case involves many related parties, and some suspects have not been prosecuted yet," adding, "We carefully considered that disclosing the indictment could amount to publicizing the charges against suspects who have not been indicted."

Minister Choo said, "The indictment will be disclosed during the trial process," and added, "The U.S. Department of Justice also discloses the indictment once the trial date is set, and the Ministry of Justice also discloses the indictment when the trial begins."

She emphasized, "When the trial procedure begins, the Ministry of Justice can disclose the indictment through the Criminal Case Disclosure Deliberation Committee to fulfill the public's right to know," and added, "To protect the fundamental rights of the people and uphold judicial justice, we need to change familiar practices."

Regarding why the indictment is being kept confidential at this particular time despite efforts to restrict the disclosure of indictments and charges since former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk's tenure, she said, "Former Minister Cho was involved in his own family corruption allegations, so he became a stakeholder in the photo line and the prohibition of charge disclosure issues, and thus could not properly handle it," adding, "Although I may face political misunderstandings, if we just let this pass, no one will be able to do it."

She also said, "There was no opposition within the Ministry of Justice, but there was agreement on the principle that charges should not be disclosed without filtering," adding, "Since this is a significant case, if concerns about political misunderstandings causing harm were the reason, I said I would fully endure it."