[Comprehensive] "The Second National Scandal" 'Choo Mi-ae's Statement' Leaked to Choi Kang-wook, Ripple Effects Spread

Jin Joong-kwon: "Cheong Wa Dae Documents Went to Choi Soon-sil as Well"

Choi Kang-wook, Leader of the Open Democratic Party [Yonhap News Archive Photo]

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] Suspicions have arisen that key figures in the ruling coalition, including Choi Kang-wook, leader of the Open Democratic Party, were pre-informed about the internal discussions within the Ministry of Justice regarding Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae's exercise of her investigative directive authority.

Given the intense confrontation between Minister Choo and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl over prosecutorial independence, this has sparked interpretations that there was prior coordination with the legislative branch on this sensitive matter, potentially leading to further controversy. Some quarters even view this as a second National Political Scandal.

As the fallout spread, Leader Choi stated, "This is media play, as if I was conspiring with the Ministry of Justice," adding, "I copied and pasted someone else's post while browsing social network services (SNS)."

Photo by CEO Choi Facebook·Yonhap News

On the afternoon of the previous day (the 8th), Leader Choi posted a message titled 'Ministry of Justice Notice' on his Facebook page. On the same day, Hwang Hee-seok, Supreme Council Member of the Open Democratic Party, also posted on his Facebook a piece titled 'Arrogance Revealed in the Proposal,' criticizing the prosecution in a similar vein as Leader Choi.

Supreme Council Member Hwang criticized Prosecutor General Yoon's proposal to Minister Choo, saying, "Yoon Seok-youl is so arrogant and presumptuous that even in his 'proposal' to Minister Choo today, the phrase 'respecting the minister's directive' clearly shows it. The expression 'respect' is used to indicate that a superior will not take lightly the opinions of a subordinate or someone of equal status."

Earlier, Leader Choi's post included the statement, "Those subject to lawful directives have an obligation to comply, and following them is respecting the person issuing the directive. Proposing alternative options from a standpoint of respect is not the duty of a public official. There is no reason to distrust the current investigative team, including the chief prosecutor."

According to multiple media outlets and explanations from the Ministry of Justice, the content Leader Choi posted at the time is known to be a draft of the statement Minister Choo released directed at Prosecutor General Yoon.

Leader Choi evaluated this content by saying, "The duty of a public official, the point most lacking in Prosecutor General Yoon," adding, "I have been saying since yesterday that it is a dead end... tsk tsk."

However, the statement delivered by the Ministry of Justice included the content, "The prosecutor general's proposals effectively include the replacement or alteration of the investigative team, so it cannot be considered as carrying out the minister's directive as written."

Immediately after the Ministry of Justice's official position was released, Leader Choi revised the previously posted statement to reflect the officially distributed version.

Along with this, Leader Choi posted again, explaining, "The Ministry of Justice notice containing phrases like 'duty of a public official' was found to be inaccurate and has been deleted," adding, "The Ministry of Justice never issued such a notice. I hope there is no misunderstanding. I apologize for the confusion caused."

As reports covering the controversy continued, Leader Choi posted once more on his Facebook, stating, "They are playing the media game like this again."

Yoon Seok-yeol, Prosecutor General [Photo by Yonhap News]

Leader Choi said, "The Blue House backdoor theory was raised as a conspiracy theory by the United Future Party, and now it is as if I am conspiring with the Ministry of Justice," adding, "I can guess who leaked what kind of article to whom, but they are completely off the mark."

He continued, "I spent the entire afternoon giving a special lecture in Gongju, Chungnam, had dinner, and returned home late at night," explaining, "I was with too many people to be exchanging messages and conspiring."

He also emphasized, "On my way home, I briefly copied and pasted someone else's post that appeared on SNS. About 20 minutes after posting, another acquaintance who saw the post informed me that it was not the Ministry of Justice's official position and could cause misunderstanding, so I immediately deleted and corrected it."

Notably, Leader Choi said he first learned about the existence of the 'Ministry of Justice draft' through media reports and mentioned that there is another media play ongoing.

He stated, "They spread the story that the Prosecutor General's Office and the Ministry of Justice made a 'behind-the-scenes negotiation' draft that the minister accepted and then suddenly reversed," adding, "There are still many prosecutors in the Ministry of Justice. Those people probably discussed some compromise plan with the Prosecutor General's Office prosecutors for the general."

He continued, "There are almost no articles investigating whether this was done under the minister's directive and reported, or pointing out the Prosecutor General's trick to refuse the minister's command," and claimed, "Political prosecutors will probably continue intense 'media manipulation' with 'pro-prosecution reporters' until tomorrow morning."

Leader Choi sarcastically referred to a media outlet that reported on the leak of the statement, saying, "I express my gratitude for even providing me, a member of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, with a clairvoyant gift to look into the Ministry of Justice."

However, Leader Choi did not mention whose SNS post he copied, so the controversy is expected to continue.

Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae [Photo by Yonhap News]

In this context, former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon criticized, calling it "a second National Political Scandal" and "the same situation as when Blue House documents were leaked to Choi Soon-sil."

On the 9th, Professor Jin raised suspicions through his Facebook by linking an article alleging the leak of Minister Choo's draft statement, saying, "This is a serious matter. Representative Choi Kang-wook must explain how he stole government documents."

He added, "Government documents are leaking out continuously. Since this is a country never experienced before, unimaginable things are happening. National discipline is in complete chaos."

He further said, "The Ministry of Justice has been outsourced. Choi Kang-wook and Hwang Hee-seok sent the minister to the mountains and seem to be making all important decisions of the Ministry of Justice among the three of them."

Professor Jin said, "This must be a mistake made in intoxication with power. The fact that a five-time convicted fraudster can mock the prosecution and act arrogantly likely stems from confidence that the Ministry of Justice is in his hands," adding, "By the way, that 'draft'?didn't Minister Choi Kang-wook himself write it? Along with Vice Minister Hwang Hee-seok..."

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice stated, "Some content was posted on a lawmaker's Facebook during the preparation of the notice," but added, "However, the above content is not the Ministry of Justice's final position, and we do not know the circumstances under which the post was made."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.