[2020 National Audit] Choo Mi-ae "Will Consider Inspection of Optimus No-Charge Disposition Case"

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae announced that she will consider inspecting Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol regarding his decision to dismiss charges in the past investigation request by the Korea Communications and Broadcasting Promotion Agency into the Optimus case.

On the morning of the 26th, Minister Choo appeared at the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit of the Ministry of Justice and responded to a question from Kim Jong-min, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, asking, "Did the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, headed by Prosecutor General Yoon at the time, fail to properly investigate?"

Previously, in October 2018, the Broadcasting Promotion Agency submitted an investigation request to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, stating that "there is a strong possibility that the nation's public funds were used as tools for illegal activities." At that time, the head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office was Prosecutor General Yoon, and the ruling party is currently raising concerns about his handling of the investigation.

In particular, Minister Choo pointed out, "The Optimus case was almost buried by the prosecution but was revived by ordinary citizens filing complaints and accusations," adding, "If the Prosecutor General responded as if 'it was handled by the Southern District Prosecutors' Office, so what is the problem?' that would be a serious mistake."

Regarding the instruction to inspect allegations of concealment of prosecutor misconduct during the Supreme Prosecutors' Office audit on the 22nd, she explained, "It was reported that the Prosecutor General denied a significant part," and added, "The fact that the Prosecutor General was unaware is also suspicious, so a new inspection matter has arisen."

Meanwhile, Minister Choo asserted that the exercise of investigative command authority concerning the Lime case and the Prosecutor General's family cases was lawful. She stated, "After three days of inspection and receiving reports, the necessity and validity of the investigative command were proven," and emphasized, "It was a lawful exercise of command authority as a minister."