Suspicions of 'Choo Mi-ae Statement Leak'... Choi Kang-wook Denies, Saying "Copied from Someone Else's Writing"

Choiganguk "First Learned About the Existence of Ministry of Justice Draft from Article"
Joo Ho-young "This Is State Affairs Manipulation"
Jin Joong-kwon "Suggests Involvement of People Outside Ministry of Justice Administration" Criticism

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] Choi Kang-wook, leader of the Open Democratic Party, denied allegations on the 9th that he obtained and posted the 'Ministry of Justice draft position' on SNS, stating, "I only copied and briefly transcribed someone else's post on SNS," and claimed, "I first learned that the Ministry of Justice draft existed by reading the article."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Amid the conflict between Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl over investigative command authority, Choi posted a message starting with 'Ministry of Justice Notice' on Facebook around 10 p.m. on the 8th. The post included content such as "Those subject to legal command have an obligation to comply, and following it is respecting the commander," and "Proposing alternative options is not the duty of a public official."

The reason Choi's Facebook message became controversial was due to the escalating conflict over investigative command authority between Minister Choo and Prosecutor General Yoon. Minister Choo had instructed Yoon to "cancel the convening of the Special Investigation Advisory Panel." Yoon expressed his intention to "form an independent investigation headquarters to investigate the alleged collusion between the press and prosecution and to step aside as Prosecutor General," which was widely interpreted as rejecting Minister Choo's proposal.

After the controversy surrounding the post continued, he deleted the post about 30 minutes later. However, the controversy did not subside. Criticism arose that the draft message from Minister Choo, which the Ministry of Justice was to announce, had been leaked. The Ministry of Justice explained, "During the preparation of the notice, part of the content was posted on a lawmaker's Facebook," and added, "We do not know the circumstances under which the post was made."

On the 9th, Choi claimed in a Facebook post, "About 20 minutes after posting the message, an acquaintance who saw it informed me that it was not the official position expressed by the Ministry of Justice and that it could cause misunderstanding, so I immediately took down the post and corrected it." He criticized, "I am appalled by the expression that I am 'looking into' the Ministry of Justice," and pointed out, "It is as if people are saying I am conspiring with the Ministry of Justice."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the United Future Party, also stated at the emergency committee meeting that day, "The Ministry of Justice's policy regarding Minister Choo's improper investigative command was conveyed in advance to Representative Choi, who has no authority," and claimed, "This is precisely a case of state power manipulation."

Former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon criticized, "Common sense tells us how the Ministry of Justice notice would be posted on SNS in a 'draft' state; it was probably received via smartphone text," and added, "This strongly suggests that unauthorized people outside the Ministry of Justice administration were involved."