"The uproar but 'conspiracy' not written in the indictment"
"Where is the abundant evidence... It was a political conspiracy"
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon argued that Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae should "resign" for improperly exercising her authority over the investigation during the so-called 'media-prosecutor collusion' suspicion case. Earlier, on the 5th, Jung Jin-woong, head of the Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office investigation team that investigated the media-prosecutor collusion case, indicted former Channel A reporter Lee Dong-jae on charges of attempted coercion but excluded any conspiracy involving Prosecutor General Han Dong-hoon from the indictment.
On the 6th, Jin wrote on his Facebook, "The minister fell into confirmation bias and exercised her authority over the investigation for nothing more than an 'attempted coercion' case," adding, "If such a major blunder occurred, shouldn't she take moral responsibility and immediately step down?"
He continued, "In Germany, the authority over investigations has never been exercised, and in Japan, it was exercised once over 60 years ago, after which the Minister of Justice resigned. I recall that in our country, when former Minister Cheon Jeong-bae exercised this authority, he also resigned," pointing out, "Exercising authority over investigations is that serious."
Previously, in October 2005, former Minister of Justice Cheon Jeong-bae exercised the authority over investigations for the first time in constitutional history. Minister Cheon directed then Prosecutor General Kim Jong-bin to prosecute former Dongguk University professor Kang Jeong-gu, who was under investigation for violating the National Security Act, without detention. Prosecutor General Kim complied with Minister Cheon's directive but expressed his intention to resign, stating, "Exercising authority over investigations risks undermining the political neutrality of the prosecution."
Former professor Jin argued, "It is also absurd that the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office bypassed the Prosecutor General and conducted a subordinate investigation," adding, "They conducted an excessive investigation trying to find nonexistent evidence to fit a conclusion preordained from above, which resulted in an unprecedented incident of assaulting a prosecutor general."
He further criticized, "After all that chaos, they couldn't even write 'conspiracy' in the indictment. Where did all the so-called evidence go?" and "A group used the Channel A reporter's violation of journalistic ethics as a pretext to carry out a 'political operation' based on falsehoods and fabrications reminiscent of the military regime era."
Minister Choo exercised her authority over the investigation into the media-prosecutor collusion case on the 2nd of last month. She halted the convening process of the special investigation advisory panel initiated by Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl and directed the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office investigation team to ensure their independence.
Subsequently, on the 29th of last month, a physical altercation occurred during the seizure of Prosecutor General Han's mobile phone USIM chip at an office in the Yongin branch of the Judicial Research and Training Institute by Prosecutor Jung.
On the same day, Prosecutor General Han filed a complaint against Prosecutor Jung at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office for assault by a public official and submitted a petition requesting an internal investigation. In contrast, Prosecutor Jung claimed that Han's allegations and complaint were intended to obstruct the investigation and countered by stating he would sue Han for false accusation and defamation by spreading false information.
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