[On the Scene] The Minister's Mouth Changed to a '3D' Position, the President's Mouth (Part 2)

Seokjin Choi, Head of the Legal Affairs Team

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The Ministry of Justice is a policy department rather than an investigative agency, so until recently, before such unusual situations arose, the spokesperson's main role was media relations to promote major legal amendments or justice policies.

The times when reporters showed heightened interest in the Ministry of Justice were mainly during the regular biannual prosecutor personnel appointments, special pardons on occasions like March 1st Movement Day, Liberation Day, Christmas, and during the National Assembly audits.

On the other hand, the spokesperson of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, which represents the prosecution directly responsible for investigations, inevitably receives sensitive questions from reporters related to specific investigations.

Of course, since the Central Investigation Department of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office was abolished, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office no longer directly handles investigations. Compared to the past when the senior research officer, formerly called the Investigation Planning Officer, shared public relations duties with the spokesperson, the direct connection between specific cases and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office has decreased.

However, since the Prosecutor General is ultimately responsible for directing all investigations, decisions such as which prosecution office will handle a high-profile case, how many prosecutors from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office or other offices will be dispatched to support the investigation, and the handling of key suspects' custody and judicial processing inevitably reflect the Prosecutor General's intentions. Therefore, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office spokesperson still receives questions related to investigations.

Especially since investigation statuses of major cases from all prosecution offices nationwide are reported to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, if access to frontline prosecution offices is blocked, reporters have no choice but to try to confirm information through the Supreme Prosecutors' Office spokesperson.

Every morning, the spokesperson's office staff (spokesperson, deputy spokesperson, and employees) start work earlier than any other department, review all major articles in morning newspapers and portals, select what to report to the Prosecutor General, and prepare responses to the flood of questions from reporters related to various issues.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office spokesperson receives anywhere from dozens to hundreds of phone calls daily. Since they cannot simply repeat "We cannot confirm" to sensitive investigative questions, they must comply with the investigation publicity guidelines without disclosing criminal suspect information, handling each call carefully. This is not an easy task, as a single slip of the tongue can be turned into a news article and cause significant repercussions.

Due to the crime of disclosing suspect information and the investigation publicity guidelines, spokespersons generally find it difficult to answer investigative questions concretely. Therefore, reporters covering the prosecution sometimes interpret the response "We cannot confirm" as "(We cannot say, but) that is correct" on their own.

This is based on the belief that "at least prosecutors do not lie and cannot lie." In other words, to prevent misinformation, they will clearly deny completely false facts, so if they say they cannot disclose information, it is likely that there is some truth to it.

Of course, to avoid misjudgment, a proper "instinct" must be activated by comprehensively considering the flow of conversation between the reporter and spokesperson, nuances in the spokesperson's tone, and other circumstances depending on the question's content. Clearly, when reporters ask questions with some knowledge and information about the case, the spokesperson tends to respond with clarifications like "That's not the case, but rather this." However, if the spokesperson feels the reporter is asking without understanding, they may feel no need to respond.

A junior reporter who once covered the legal beat summarized this correlation well in a KakaoTalk profile phrase: "If the question is wrong, the answer is also wrong."

Sometimes, no matter how truthfully the spokesperson explains, reporters may not believe it and insist on their own claims. Receiving dozens of calls repeatedly asking the same uncomfortable questions can also make it difficult for the spokesperson to control their emotions.

Although not a Supreme Prosecutors' Office spokesperson, a former second deputy prosecutor who led the Public Security Department at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and handled public relations for public security cases once lost control during a call with a female reporter new to covering the prosecution, uttering a rude remark like "You don't know a damn thing..." and was named in the newspaper the next morning.

Meanwhile, under the current administration, as the prosecution became a prime target for reform and the Ministry of Justice, which should represent the prosecution's position in issues like investigative authority adjustments with the police, took a completely opposing stance, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office spokesperson faced even more difficult circumstances.

Following former Ministers of Justice Park Sang-ki and Cho Kuk, both university professors appointed by President Moon Jae-in who presented prosecution reform as a key national agenda, the current Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae, a politician with a strongly negative view of the prosecution, has also taken office. This has made the roles of both the Ministry of Justice spokesperson and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office spokesperson equally challenging.

When the prosecution investigated former Minister Cho Kuk under Prosecutor General Yoon's directive, or when Minister Choo Mi-ae excluded Prosecutor General Yoon's investigative authority through investigation command during the "media collusion" case and delegated responsibility for investigating Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon to Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Chief Lee Sung-yoon, or when the Ministry of Justice and Supreme Prosecutors' Office clashed over the inspection case related to former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook, and recently when Minister Choo directly named Prosecutor General Yoon as an investigation target through investigation commands on five cases involving Yoon's family and associates, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office spokesperson had to organize and announce the positions of the Prosecutor General and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office under unprecedentedly difficult circumstances.

Anyway, since the Supreme Prosecutors' Office spokesperson is also a prosecutor and the appointing authority is the Minister of Justice, the spokesperson must have felt considerable psychological burden having to frequently convey the Prosecutor General's or Supreme Prosecutors' Office's positions that contradict those of the Ministry or Minister amid the unprecedented conflict between the Minister and Prosecutor General.

Meanwhile, specialized public relations officers who are in charge of public relations at frontline prosecution offices are equally burdened.

Especially, the specialized public relations officer at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, which handles the most important investigations since the abolition of the Central Investigation Department, is presumed to have the highest workload and fatigue among all prosecution offices nationwide.

Until just a few years ago, the public relations role at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office was shared among four to five people.

Criminal cases involving complaints and accusations were handled by the first deputy chief prosecutor, public security cases such as election crimes, National Security Law violations, and labor cases by the second deputy chief prosecutor, and special cases involving politicians or large conglomerate chairpersons, drug and organized crime, and financial crimes by the third deputy chief prosecutor, who also led investigations and handled public relations.

However, since there were so many cases at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, there was a time when the chief prosecutor of the General Affairs Department was assigned as deputy spokesperson to assist the three deputy chief prosecutors. But reporters preferred to speak with the deputy chief prosecutors or the responsible chief prosecutors who were more familiar with specific investigation details rather than the General Affairs Department chief, so this had little effect.

Currently, the specialized public relations officer is solely responsible for the public relations work that was previously difficult even when shared among several people. This is due to the Ministry of Justice directive "Regulations on Prohibition of Disclosure of Criminal Cases," implemented since December last year following the investigation of former Minister Cho Kuk. Contact with the media by prosecutors or investigators other than the specialized public relations officers at each prosecution office is completely prohibited, making it impossible for the heads of investigative departments or deputy chief prosecutors who previously handled public relations to engage with the media.

No one denies the need to protect suspects' human rights, but this measure was implemented comprehensively just as the investigation of former Minister Cho was in full swing, raising suspicions about its pure intent. Subsequently, high-profile politicians or conglomerate owners who might have faced the photo line in the past benefited from Cho's situation. While suspect protection was strengthened, the veil over investigation statuses until results are announced inevitably limited the public's right to know.

The specialized public relations officer, now solely responsible for all case publicity at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office under the new directive, appears to have an extremely demanding role just in terms of workload. However, since the current officer was reappointed in the last personnel reshuffle, it seems they are evaluated as performing their role well.

Especially after Minister Choo promoted Lee Sung-yoon, then Director of the Ministry of Justice's Prosecutor's Office and classified as pro-government, to head the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office earlier this year, the Ministry of Justice and Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office have continued to align against the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, creating subtle tensions among the Ministry of Justice spokesperson, Supreme Prosecutors' Office spokesperson, and the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office specialized public relations officer.

Previously, these parties would have maintained a cooperative relationship over their common media response duties, but as their respective institutions have become adversarial, spokespersons or public relations officers sometimes respond to reporters' inquiries with questions like "What does the central office say?" or "Is that what the Supreme Prosecutors' Office says?" or push reporters to "Ask the Supreme Prosecutors' Office (or central office)." Such situations occur frequently.

In any case, it is clear that the Ministry of Justice spokesperson, Supreme Prosecutors' Office spokesperson, and specialized public relations officers at frontline prosecution offices are performing their duties under more difficult circumstances than ever due to the uncomfortable relationship between the Ministry and Supreme Prosecutors' Office and strengthened publicity guidelines.

Many spokespersons and prosecutors who previously handled public relations, such as former deputy chief prosecutors, say the same thing.

They say that although they struggled with constant calls from reporters during their spokesperson tenure, once their assignment changes and the calls suddenly stop, they feel somewhat empty and disappointed. So when they call or visit prosecutors who have returned to frontline investigations after serving as spokespersons, they are warmly welcomed.

Despite the many difficulties, I encourage all spokespersons and public relations officers who represent and convey the positions of the Ministry of Justice and the prosecution. Fighting!!