[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Chu Mi-ae, Minister of Justice, has been reported to the prosecution in connection with the controversy over the leak of the Ministry of Justice's draft statement regarding the so-called 'prosecutor-media collusion suspicion' investigation to Choi Kang-wook, leader of the Open Democratic Party.
The civic group 'Action Alliance for Upholding the Rule of Law (Beopse-ryeon)' held a press conference on the morning of the 13th in front of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, announcing that they would file a criminal complaint against Minister Chu for breach of official secrets and obstruction of the exercise of official duties.
The group pointed out, "Minister Chu's aide sent the Ministry of Justice's draft statement to several people including Choi Kang-wook, leader of the Open Democratic Party, which is a disclosure of official secrets that should not have been made public, and Minister Chu was also involved in this."
They further claimed regarding media reports that Minister Chu rarely receives face-to-face reports from Ministry of Justice executives and that reports are made through policy aide Lee Gyu-jin, a former secretary to a member of the National Assembly, "This violates the duty of diligence under the National Public Service Act and obstructs the legitimate exercise of rights by the Ministry of Justice executives responsible for the work."
Minister Chu has denied the related suspicions through her social media service (SNS) Facebook account.
Minister Chu emphasized, "Besides the instruction draft I sent, a separate message created by Ministry of Justice executives arrived at 7:39 p.m. on the day of the incident, and I approved both and ordered their disclosure," adding, "Usually, the Minister's Secretariat disseminates via SNS and the Ministry of Justice spokesperson's office notifies journalists, so there is nothing else that could cause misunderstanding in this case."
Meanwhile, Beopse-ryeon applied for the convening of an investigative review committee urging the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office to promptly proceed with the investigation of the 'prosecutor-media collusion' case following the complaint.
Earlier, Beopse-ryon filed a complaint on the 10th against Choi Kang-wook, former lawmaker Choi Min-hee, who is known to have first posted the draft on SNS, and Minister Chu's aide suspected of leaking it, on charges of breach of official secrets and defamation due to spreading false information regarding the draft statement leak controversy.
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