Choo Mi-ae, "The Prosecutor General is a Public Official Subject to the Supervision and Direction of the Minister of Justice"

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] On the 22nd, Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae stated on Facebook, "The Prosecutor General is a public official who is subject to the command and supervision of the Minister of Justice." This was a rebuttal to Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol's remark that "The Prosecutor General is not a subordinate of the Minister."

On the same day, Prosecutor General Yoon stated at the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee hearing, "The Prosecutor General is not a subordinate of the Minister of Justice," and added, "Most prosecutors and legal experts view the Minister's exclusion of the Prosecutor General's investigative authority through investigative command as illegal and unjust."

In particular, Prosecutor General Yoon said, "If the Prosecutor General were a subordinate of the Minister, there would be no need to establish the position of Prosecutor General," and "The Supreme Prosecutors' Office organization is entirely a staff organization to assist the Prosecutor General, so there is no need to spend such a budget and operate such a vast facility and organization funded by taxpayers' money," cuttingly remarked.

He continued, "The Minister is fundamentally a politician, a political appointee," and emphasized, "If the Prosecutor General, who oversees prosecutors nationwide, were a subordinate of the Minister, then investigation and prosecution would all be subject to political command, which is far from the political neutrality of the prosecution and the independence of the judiciary."

Prosecutor General Yoon also clearly explained the purpose of the Prosecutors' Office Act stipulating the Minister's investigative command over the Prosecutor General. Article 8 of the Prosecutors' Office Act (Command and Supervision by the Minister of Justice) states, "The Minister of Justice is the highest supervisor of prosecutorial affairs and generally commands and supervises prosecutors, and specifically commands and supervises only the Prosecutor General regarding particular cases."