Hwang Unha Criticizes Yoon Seok-yeol's 'National Assembly Audit Attitude': "Immaturity and Lack of Courtesy Revealed"

Hwang Unha, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is giving a greeting at the discussion forum on "The Harms of Direct Prosecution by the Prosecutors and Improvement Measures" held last August at the National Assembly Members' Office Building in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-eun] On the 23rd, Hwang Unha, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, saying, "His immaturity and lack of refinement were clearly revealed."

On the same day, through his Facebook, Rep. Hwang referred to Prosecutor General Yoon's remarks during the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee's inspection of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on the 22nd, including the statement "The Prosecutor General is not a subordinate of the Minister," saying, "Watching Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol's attitude and responses, I could not hide my sense of emptiness and disappointment that he is unfit to be the Prosecutor General of a nation."

Rep. Hwang pointed out, "Among his answers was the reckless remark, 'The Prosecutor General is not a subordinate of the Minister of Justice,'" adding, "By law, the Prosecutor General is a prosecutor who is under the command and supervision of the Minister of Justice. Yoon's remark sounds like a low-level organizational logic that 'Minister Chu is not one of us.'" He continued, "He seems to be obsessed with prosecutorial supremacy," and criticized, "Yoon has failed to uphold the basic standards expected of a high-ranking public official, who must exercise the power entrusted by the people with restraint."

He also stated, "Yoon said that if the Prosecutor General is a subordinate of the Minister of Justice, then the Supreme Prosecutors' Office organization is unnecessary," and argued, "Even aside from Yoon's remarks, if the prosecution's direct investigative authority is abolished, the currently oversized Supreme Prosecutors' Office organization should be drastically downsized to the level of disbandment."

He emphasized, "That is the way to prevent wasteful spending of taxpayers' money," and "It must be reborn as a prosecution agency that earns the trust of the people."

Earlier, on the 22nd, during the Supreme Prosecutors' Office inspection, Prosecutor General Yoon expressed dissatisfaction over Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae excluding him from five investigations, including the Lime Asset Management lobbying suspicion case, stating, "(Such measures) violate the Prosecutors' Office Act. The Prosecutor General is not a subordinate of the Minister of Justice."