Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae (left) and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] As Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae demands Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol to disclose by tomorrow (9th) at 10 a.m. whether he will accept her investigation directive, attention is focused on what final decision Yoon will make.
On the morning of the 8th, Minister Choo publicly stated through the Ministry of Justice, "I will wait one more day until 10 a.m. on the 9th. I will await the Prosecutor General's wise judgment," granting a 24-hour extension. Although she urged him the previous day to make a decision without hesitation, this time she set a deadline, making it clear that this is the "final notice."
She also said, "(It has been) already a week since the investigation directive on the 2nd. The public is very frustrated. We all must do our best in our given roles while looking toward the future of the Republic of Korea."
Minister Choo has taken two consecutive days off starting the previous day and has not gone to work. On this day, she also posted a photo taken at a mountain temple on her Facebook.
Along with the photo, she wrote, "No matter how many countless worries I repeat, my thoughts only reach the fact that the right path is not being taken." The official position through the Ministry of Justice was released about an hour after the Facebook photo and post were made public.
Meanwhile, Prosecutor General Yoon reported to work normally on this day and is continuing to deliberate on how to respond to the minister’s directives, such as instructing that the weekly Wednesday briefing of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office be replaced with a written report and stepping away from the Channel A-MBC collusion investigation.
Since Minister Choo has already conveyed the "follow the directive" answer multiple times, Yoon has few options left. It is reported that Yoon is considering a "compromise plan" that largely implements the minister’s instructions while reflecting voices within the prosecution. Minister Choo’s final ultimatum can be interpreted as a message to choose either "full acceptance" or "resignation."
A senior official at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office said, "The Prosecutor General is still deliberating," adding, "In any case, the basic stance of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office is that the Channel A-related investigation must be conducted fairly and strictly."
After concluding a series of meetings with chief prosecutors last Friday, Yoon was expected to finalize and announce his position by the weekend at the earliest or early this week at the latest. However, as of the morning of this day, six days after Minister Choo’s investigation directive and five days after the chief prosecutors' meeting, Yoon’s continued deliberation indicates that he lacks suitable options to choose from.
Currently, it is highly anticipated that Yoon will propose a compromise plan that recommends appointing a "third special prosecutor" for a "fair investigation" while reflecting Minister Choo’s directive by retaining a significant portion of the current Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office investigation team.
Rather than simply requesting a "re-directive" or expressing a "refusal to accept the directive," which would appear as insubordination, creating a situation where a third party can take responsibility for controlling the investigation team at the Central District Prosecutors' Office, which is under controversy for biased investigation, seems to be the only option to avoid a direct confrontation with Minister Choo. However, Minister Choo’s repeated messages indicate "do not suggest detours," making even this option unsuitable.
Another alternative is to file a constitutional dispute adjudication with the Constitutional Court to determine the legality of the investigation directive. However, since the Constitutional Court’s decision would take considerable time, this option is not considered highly likely.
The day before, there was also a debate within the prosecution regarding the fairness of the current investigation team’s investigation. When Chief Prosecutor Jeong Hee-do of Cheongju District Prosecutors' Office posted a public inquiry on the internal prosecution network E-PROS, stating, "Many frontline prosecutors view the current investigation team as conducting unfair and biased investigations," Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeong Jin-woong of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Criminal Division 1 directly responded.
In a post titled "A Letter Regarding the Investigation of the Channel A-MBC Report Related Case," Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeong stated, "We are conducting an impartial investigation under the direction of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and have already secured numerous important pieces of evidence, approaching the substantive truth," unusually revealing the investigation team’s position. This is interpreted as a response aware of the reality that questions about the investigation team’s fairness are being raised ahead of Prosecutor General Yoon’s final decision.
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