"I Also Come Out" Prosecutor's Real-Name Comments Exceed 100

Minister Choo Mi-ae Faces Growing Backlash After Targeting Prosecutors
Signs of Collective Resistance Emerge, Including Prosecutors' Meeting Held During Former Chief Prosecutor Chae Dong-wook's 2013 Inspection

On August 3rd, Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae is seen taking a commemorative photo with the newly appointed prosecutors after the inauguration ceremony held at the Government Complex Gwacheon in Gyeonggi Province.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] Following Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae's post targeting rank-and-file prosecutors, a strong 'anti-Choo Mi-ae' movement is emerging among frontline prosecutors.

Although it has not yet escalated into a collective action like a 'mutiny,' if Minister Choo does not provide a satisfactory response, there is a possibility that the situation could escalate into the worst 'prosecutorial chaos (檢亂)'.

As of the morning of the 30th, on the prosecution's internal network e-Pros, more than 100 real-name comments expressing sympathy with the post by Prosecutor Choi Jae-man of Chuncheon District Prosecutors' Office, who publicly criticized Minister Choo's Facebook post the previous day with the phrase "I also come out," had been posted.

When the first investigative directive stripping Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl of his command authority was issued in July, the prosecution remained quiet. However, after the number of investigative directives increased to five and Park Soon-cheol, head of the Lime case investigation at Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, resigned saying "politics has overshadowed the prosecution," the atmosphere reportedly changed. Additionally, after the National Assembly audit, Prosecutor General Yoon resumed his provincial inspection schedule, which is seen as a catalyst for strengthening internal unity.

The spark for the comment surge was a post titled "Prosecutorial Reform Has Failed" by Prosecutor Lee Hwan-woo of Jeju District Prosecutors' Office on the 28th. In the post, Prosecutor Lee directly criticized Minister Choo, saying, "I feel that personnel authority, command authority, and inspection authority are being abused without hiding their purpose and intentions."

In response, Minister Choo countered by linking to a negative news article about Prosecutor Lee and said, "Good. If you come out like this, reform is the only answer."

Then, on the afternoon of the 29th, Prosecutor Choi Jae-man of Chuncheon District Prosecutors' Office, son-in-law of former Justice Minister Cheon Jeong-bae, posted a piece titled "Regarding the Minister's SNS Post," continuing the so-called 'coming out' that Minister Choo mentioned.

As of 10:30 a.m. that day, serial-numbered comments indicating the order of their 'coming out' had reached number 115. Including comments without numbers, it appears that many more prosecutors have begun publicly expressing opposition to Minister Choo.

The comments mostly expressed dissatisfaction with Minister Choo's prosecutorial reform and Facebook posts, saying things like, "No matter how much you package it under the frame of prosecutorial reform and scold prosecutors who have doubts, the essence of 'political power's control over prosecutorial authority' never changes," and "The essence of this incident is that as soon as you voice opinions opposing the will of those in power, you are suppressed by the strongest powers of public authority and public opinion. We are Lee Hwan-woo. We are Choi Jae-man. We are the people."

As prosecutors' dissatisfaction with Minister Choo begins to surface openly, keen attention is focused on whether collective actions such as circulating petitions or convening meetings of rank-and-file prosecutors will begin.

Seven years ago, when former Prosecutor General Chae Dong-wook tendered his resignation immediately after then Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn ordered an inspection, prosecutors convened rank-and-file meetings at each prosecution office and submitted statements expressing concerns about Chae's resignation and the infringement on prosecutorial independence.

If prosecutors engage in such collective actions again, there are concerns that a power struggle between the government and the prosecution could ensue, causing the institutionalized prosecutorial reform to stall once more.

Meanwhile, a survey conducted by Korea Gallup from the 27th to 29th among 1,001 people nationwide aged 18 and over showed that positive job evaluations of Minister Choo fell by 8 percentage points from three months ago to 32%. The negative rating was 56%. Prosecutor General Yoon's positive job evaluation also dropped by 4 percentage points to 39%, with a negative rating of 44%.