Daegum: "The Central District Prosecutors' Office is investigating the collusion between prosecutors and media itself... The Prosecutor General has lost command authority"

Tension is mounting at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the 8th, as Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol's announcement on whether to accept the investigation command regarding the 'alleged collusion between prosecutors and media' case is imminent. On the 7th, Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae once again emphasized that it is inappropriate for Prosecutor General Yoon to direct the investigation of the alleged collusion case and urged him to accept the investigation command. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Supreme Prosecutors' Office announced on the 9th that the so-called 'Channel A case,' known as the 'prosecutor-media collusion suspicion,' will be "investigated independently by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office."

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office explained, "The revocation of investigative command authority is a formative disposition, and unless canceled through litigation procedures, a state of loss of command authority occurs." This means that after Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae exercised her investigative command authority on the 2nd, Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol is no longer able to command the 'prosecutor-media collusion' case.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office added that it has notified the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office of this fact.

Furthermore, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office stated, "After the minister exercised her command authority, we received a proposal from the Ministry of Justice to establish an independent investigation headquarters headed by the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office Chief, which we fully accepted, and yesterday we received a request from the Ministry of Justice to make a public recommendation."

This is interpreted to mean that the independent investigation headquarters formation plan proposed by Prosecutor General Yoon to Minister Chu the previous day was a plan previously agreed upon with the Ministry of Justice, and that Minister Chu rejected it.