National Prosecutors' Meeting Ends After 9 Hours... Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol Expected to Decide After the 6th

Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol is expected to decide on the 3rd whether to accept Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae's investigation directive regarding the so-called 'media-prosecution collusion' suspicion case. The Supreme Prosecutors' Office will hold meetings with high prosecutors and chief prosecutors nationwide in the morning and afternoon, respectively, to discuss whether to accept Minister Choo's investigation directive. The photo shows prosecutors entering and leaving the Supreme Prosecutors' Office building that day. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The nationwide prosecutors' chiefs meeting, convened by Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol to gather opinions on whether to accept the investigation directive from Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae, ended after about nine hours.

According to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on the 3rd, the meeting, which started at 10 a.m., concluded around 6:50 p.m. In the morning, high prosecutors participated, and in the afternoon, district prosecutors and deputy high prosecutors joined the meeting.

Prosecutor General Yoon attended only the morning meeting with the high prosecutors and left the meeting room after giving a greeting in the other sessions. The meeting was conducted in a free atmosphere, and the attendees actively expressed their opinions, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office reported.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office plans to compile the opinions expressed that day and report them to Prosecutor General Yoon by the 6th. Yoon's final stance on Minister Choo's investigation directive is expected to be decided thereafter.

According to the legal community, many opinions raised during the meeting suggested that Minister Choo's exercise of investigation directive authority over Prosecutor General Yoon was unjust.

Prosecutor General Yoon convened the meeting immediately after Minister Choo exercised her investigation directive authority regarding the so-called 'media-prosecutor collusion' suspicion case the previous day.

Minister Choo exercised the investigation directive authority to halt the convening of the expert investigation advisory panel assessing the appropriateness of the 'media-prosecutor collusion' investigation and to guarantee the independence of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office investigation team.

The 'media-prosecutor collusion' suspicion involves former Channel A reporter Lee Dong-jae allegedly conspiring with Prosecutor General Han Dong-hoon (age 47, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 27) while investigating suspicions related to ShillaJen against former ValueInvest Korea (VIK) CEO Lee Cheol earlier this year, threatening to report corruption involving Yoo Si-min, chairman of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation.