Kim Geun-sik: "Choo is trying to insult Yoon Seok-yeol to make him step down... Truly a bad minister"

Choo Mi-ae: "Yoon Accepted Investigation Command but Denied It at National Assembly Audit... Inconsistent Words and Actions"

Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae is attending the comprehensive audit of the Ministry of Justice and others at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee meeting held at the National Assembly on the 26th.
Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suwan] Professor Kim Geunsik of Gyeongnam National University, who is the chairman of the People Power Party's Songpa-byeong district in Seoul, strongly criticized Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae on the 26th, calling her a "truly bad minister" and saying she is "committing a great sin that will go down in history due to stubbornness and obstinacy."

On the same day, Professor Kim pointed out on his Facebook, "Ultimately, the consecutive exercise of the investigative directive power by Minister Choo Mi-ae revealed the intention to oust Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol."

Professor Kim explained, "The exercise of investigative directive power stipulated in Article 8 of the Prosecutors' Office Act is intended to limit and prevent political interference by the Minister of Justice in investigations," adding, "Therefore, it has never been exercised in the history of the constitutional government, and the first time was during the Roh Moo-hyun administration when Minister Cheon Jeong-bae exercised the directive power to proceed with the National Security Act investigation without detention."

He continued, "(Minister Cheon Jeong-bae's exercise of investigative directive power) had a certain significance in improving democracy and human rights, but Minister Choo, within a few months after taking office, politically biasedly overused it consecutively in the Channel A case and the Lime scammer's prison letter case, unprecedented in over 70 years of constitutional history."

Regarding Minister Choo's criticism of Prosecutor General Yoon, who claimed that her exercise of investigative directive power was illegal during the comprehensive audit of the Ministry of Justice by the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, he said, "Minister Choo, who had been silent about the unjust exercise of investigative directive power, scolded Prosecutor General Yoon during the national audit, telling him to resign if he was going to criticize the directive power. This confirmed the original intention to drive out Prosecutor General Yoon through all kinds of insults and pressure," and claimed, "Ultimately, the ruling party, led by Minister Choo, aimed to insult Prosecutor General Yoon with the absurd overuse of investigative directive power to make him resign voluntarily."

He then addressed Prosecutor General Yoon, saying, "To protect the prosecution organization, despite the minister's reckless and illegal orders, you must endure and hold onto the position of Prosecutor General until the end," adding, "Since what they want is for you to resign voluntarily out of shame and insult, to maintain the prosecution's resolve that does not bow to even the living power, you must not resign."

Finally, he said, "Since Prosecutor General Yoon is not resigning as Minister Choo intended, it now reveals the political purpose of the resignation drive," and sharply criticized, "She is a truly bad minister. She is committing a great sin that will go down in history due to stubbornness and obstinacy."

Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol is responding during the Supreme Prosecutors' Office audit held on the morning of the 22nd at the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

Earlier that day, Minister Choo, who appeared at the comprehensive audit of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, rebutted Prosecutor General Yoon's remark that "the exercise of investigative directive power is illegal," saying, "If you are going to say such things, I think you should protect the prosecution organization by stepping down from your position."

Minister Choo continued, "Prosecutor General Yoon accepted the exercise of investigative directive power within 30 minutes, but denying it again in the National Assembly is inconsistency between words and actions," adding, "If you are confident that the investigative directive is illegal, it is highly contradictory and delusional to say such things while holding the position as the head of the prosecution. It is not right."