"I Will Come Out Too" 'Cheon Jeong-bae's Son-in-Law' Prosecutor Criticizes Choo Mi-ae

Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae publicly criticized Prosecutor Lee Hwan-woo of the Jeju District Prosecutors' Office. The photo shows Minister Choo publicly criticizing Prosecutor Lee in a post on her Facebook. Photo by Minister Choo Mi-ae's Facebook

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Seul-gi] Prosecutor Choi Jae-man of Chuncheon District Prosecutors' Office, known as the son-in-law of former Minister of Justice Cheon Jeong-bae, criticized Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae for publicly criticizing Prosecutor Lee Hwan-woo of Jeju District Prosecutors' Office, who had criticized the prosecution reform, sparking a series of protest posts from other prosecutors. Choi also stated, "I will come out as well," criticizing Minister Chu.

On the 29th, Prosecutor Choi posted on the prosecution's internal network, Epros, saying, "What does Prosecutor Lee's concern that 'the core philosophy and principle of prosecution reform, which is securing the political neutrality of the prosecution and preventing abuse of prosecutorial power, have been greatly damaged' have to do with reform?" and criticized the statement.

Earlier, Prosecutor Lee Hwan-woo posted on Epros the day before, criticizing Minister Chu by stating, "The authority over personnel appointments, command, and inspection is being abused. As a result, the core philosophy and principle of prosecution reform, which is securing the political neutrality of the prosecution and preventing abuse of prosecutorial power, have been greatly damaged."

In response, Minister Chu Mi-ae and former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk each posted the article on their respective Facebook pages, criticizing Prosecutor Lee.

Regarding this, Prosecutor Choi said, "The Minister said after reading Prosecutor Lee's post, 'If they come out like this, reform is the only answer,'" and added, "I dare to ask whether the Minister thinks that demoting prosecutors who do not comply with the government's and Ministry of Justice's policies or do not handle cases as desired, or pressuring them to resign under various pretexts such as inspections, is prosecution reform," reiterating his criticism.

Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae is holding a press conference at the Government Complex Gwacheon on the afternoon of February 11.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

He continued, "Excluding political interference in prosecution and institutionally guaranteeing the independence of the prosecution is already the standard in advanced countries worldwide," and pointed out, "However, after the investigation of the former Minister, the Ministry of Justice abused its authority over investigation command, mobilizing all means such as personnel authority and inspection authority to pressure the prosecution. They analyze prosecutors' past work records to divide factions and accuse those who do not comply with or criticize the administration as if they are forces opposing prosecution reform."

He said, "Prosecutors never oppose prosecution reform. As far as I know, no prosecutor opposes relinquishing the excessive powers of the prosecution and creating a more proper judicial system," but added, "Under the pretext of prosecution reform, the possibility of undue political power, such as the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, improperly intervening in criminal prosecution has rather increased, creating a criminal justice system that can no longer effectively confront high-level corruption crimes. The Minister's command authority has been abused multiple times, the Prosecutor General has been pressured to resign, and prosecutors labeled as non-compliant with the government's and Ministry of Justice's policies are demoted or pressured to resign under various pretexts such as inspections. I express concern over this."

He added, "Like Prosecutor Lee, I do not know whether the current administration is a righteous power or an unjust power. However, I clearly think that the current situation where political power is overwhelming the prosecution is wrong."

Prosecutor Choi said, "I share the same view as Prosecutor Lee that 'the current situation where politics intentionally overwhelms the prosecution is clearly a bad precedent in our judicial history,' so I will also come out." Comments supporting him, saying "I will come out too," are continuing from fellow prosecutors on Prosecutor Choi's post.