[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] On the 2nd, Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae ordered the suspension of the review process by the Expert Investigation Advisory Panel (Advisory Panel), which Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol decided to convene regarding the 'media-prosecution collusion' case. She also directed the independent investigation by the investigative team that is not under the supervision of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.
The Ministry of Justice stated, “Minister Choo today directed Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol regarding the 'Channel A related attempted coercion case investigation.'”
This action came just one day after Minister Choo said during an emergency inquiry at the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, “I have observed (Prosecutor General Yoon) so far, but if it becomes difficult to continue observing, I will make a decision when the time comes.”
In an official investigation directive letter titled “Channel A related attempted coercion case investigation,” sent to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office with Prosecutor General Yoon as the recipient, Minister Choo pointed out problems in the process of convening the Advisory Panel and expressed concerns about the simultaneous holding of other procedures such as the “Supreme Prosecutors' Office Chief Prosecutors' Meeting” and the “Prosecutorial Investigation Deliberation Committee.”
Minister Choo stated, “This case involves allegations that a prosecutor conspired with a reporter to threaten a detainee and his family with separate criminal charges to coerce testimony about a specific individual's misconduct, and various pieces of evidence supporting this have been presented. Therefore, it is necessary to resolve public suspicion through a fair and thorough investigation more than ever.”
She continued, “Especially since the current chief prosecutor, known to be a close aide of the Prosecutor General, is the subject of the investigation, decision-making related to the Prosecutor General's investigation directive must be made through a reasonable and transparent procedure to avoid any doubts about fairness.”
Minister Choo pointed out issues with the process of convening Prosecutor General Yoon’s Advisory Panel.
She said, “On the 4th, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office conveyed the Prosecutor General's instruction to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office that the Chief Prosecutors' Meeting of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office should decide on matters related to supervision of the case and independently make decisions without reporting to the Prosecutor General. Accordingly, on the 19th, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office held the Chief Prosecutors' Meeting to deliberate on agenda items such as whether to request an arrest warrant for the suspect Lee Dong-jae, but no conclusion was reached. Nevertheless, contrary to the instruction on the 4th, the Prosecutor General decided to convene the Advisory Panel after the meeting and completed the selection process of nine members from candidates recommended by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Criminal Division on the 29th,” she said.
She added, “There have been criticisms that sufficient opinion-gathering procedures among prosecutors were not conducted during the decision to convene the Advisory Panel and the member selection process. In fact, objections were raised within the prosecution, and according to the guidelines for operating consultative bodies for rational decision-making, the Chief Prosecutors' Meeting was established by the Prosecutor General's order and is still deliberating. Convening the Advisory Panel, a parallel system stipulated in the same guidelines, redundantly is unprecedented.”
Minister Choo also emphasized, “Since the victim of this case has applied for a review by the Prosecutorial Investigation Deliberation Committee, if the Advisory Panel's conclusion differs from that of the Deliberation Committee or the Chief Prosecutors' Meeting, significant confusion is expected. Moreover, many citizens observing this case may lose trust in the investigation results.”
Finally, Minister Choo stated, “For the above reasons, pursuant to Article 8 of the Prosecutors' Office Act, I hereby direct as follows: Since the investigation is ongoing and controversy has arisen, hastily reaching a final conclusion through the 'Expert Investigation Advisory Panel' review may hinder fact-finding. Therefore, I order the suspension of the ongoing 'Expert Investigation Advisory Panel' review process.”
She added, “As this case involves allegations of criminal conduct by a sitting chief prosecutor, who is under intense public scrutiny, to ensure a fair and strict investigation, I direct that the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office investigative team conduct the investigation independently without supervision from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office or other superiors and report only the investigation results to the Prosecutor General.”
With the Advisory Panel, which was expected to reach a favorable conclusion for the two main parties of the 'media-prosecution collusion' case?former Channel A reporter Lee Dong-jae and Chief Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon?likely to be dissolved, attention is focused on what opinions will be resolved at the Prosecutorial Investigation Deliberation Committee meeting scheduled for the 10th.
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