Ministry of Justice Clarifies Prosecutor General Sim Jae-cheol's 'Money Envelope' Controversy... Choo Mi-ae Says "Chosun Ilbo Report Is Shocking"

On the 26th of last month, Shim Jae-cheol, Director of the Prosecutor's Office at the Ministry of Justice, is responding to a lawmaker's question during the comprehensive audit of the Ministry of Justice, Supreme Court, Board of Audit and Inspection, and others at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held at the National Assembly. / Photo by Yoon Dong-ju

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The Ministry of Justice has clarified its position regarding a report by the Chosun Ilbo stating that “Shim Jae-cheol, Director of the Prosecutor's Office at the Ministry of Justice, handed out 10 million won in cash as encouragement money, 500,000 won each, to about 20 prosecutors last month,” explaining that “the funds were not distributed as encouragement money but were allocated and spent according to the budget’s intended purpose.”

Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae referred to the report as “headline grabbing” and stated, “The report is shocking. We demand a prompt correction.”

On the 21st, the Ministry of Justice issued a statement regarding the Chosun Ilbo’s report about Director Shim, saying, “Regarding the Chosun Ilbo article titled ‘Prosecutor’s Office Director Sprinkles 10 Million Won in Encouragement Money,’ we inform you that the funds were not distributed as encouragement money but were allocated and spent according to the budget’s intended purpose.”

The Ministry of Justice explained, “The Prosecutor’s Office at the Ministry of Justice appointed deputy chief prosecutors and senior prosecutors from frontline prosecution offices last month as members of the new prosecutor competency evaluation committee and conducted competency evaluations related to the selection of new prosecutors over four days.”

It continued, “After returning to their respective offices, to support investigative work and the security-required tasks related to the selection of new prosecutors, the funds were clearly designated for this purpose, and receipts were obtained in accordance with expenditure procedure guidelines. The majority of deputy chiefs and senior prosecutors who received the funds are known to have used and spent them appropriately according to the budget’s allocation and payment purpose.”

The Ministry of Justice strongly refuted the Chosun Ilbo’s comparison of this case to the “money envelope dinner incident” three years ago, in which then Seoul Central District Prosecutor Lee Young-ryeol and Prosecutor General Ahn Tae-geun handed envelopes containing 500,000 to 1,000,000 won as encouragement money to junior prosecutors during a dinner meeting, noting that the Chosun Ilbo mentioned, “This encouragement money reminds one of the past Lee Young-ryeol money envelope incident.”

The Ministry stated, “The Prosecutor’s Office Director neither visited the budget execution site nor directly handed out the funds. The budget was executed normally according to standard procedures and methods. Comparing this to the so-called ‘money envelope dinner,’ where funds were inappropriately handed out as encouragement money during a dinner gathering, is a distortion.”

Additionally, the Ministry of Justice announced a thorough inspection plan regarding the special activity funds used by Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, which is currently under investigation by the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office’s Inspection Department under Minister Chu’s directive.

The Ministry emphasized, “There are allegations that the Prosecutor General’s special activity funds, which were spent arbitrarily without standards, may exceed 5 billion won this year alone. The Ministry of Justice has instructed the Prosecutor General three times to review and report on the usage details of these funds. We plan to conduct a strict and thorough inspection going forward.”

Meanwhile, Minister Chu expressed strong dissatisfaction with the Chosun Ilbo’s report in a post on her Facebook page regarding the incident.

Minister Chu said, “The distortion of newspaper headlines is serious. Those familiar with media dynamics call it ‘headline grabbing.’ If it means a technique to attract readers’ interest and increase subscription rates through headlines, I would understand it as an effort to stand out among numerous articles.”

She added, “However, this premise must be limited to cases without distortion. When headlines are completely different from the facts, readers often skim past the article based only on the headline and accept the headline as fact.”

She stated, “This morning’s Chosun Ilbo report is truly shocking. The Prosecutor’s Office Director at the Ministry of Justice is a state official with guaranteed status. The Ministry of Justice is not the minister’s private organization, and the Prosecutor’s Office Director, who holds an official position, cannot be the minister’s close aide.”

This was a rebuttal to the Chosun Ilbo’s headline, which labeled Director Shim as Minister Chu’s close aide with the title “Chu Mi-ae’s Close Aide, Money Envelopes to Executives.”

The Chosun Ilbo introduced Director Shim as a representative pro-government prosecutor who was promoted to chief prosecutor after Minister Chu’s inauguration and mentioned an anecdote from January when, while serving as head of the Anti-Corruption Department at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, he was confronted by a junior prosecutor at a funeral home with the question, “Are you really a prosecutor?”

Minister Chu also refuted the Chosun Ilbo’s expression in the article’s headline, “Picking on Yoon Seok-youl’s Special Activity Funds,” regarding her directive to inspect the Prosecutor General’s use of special activity funds.

She pointed out, “The Ministry of Justice’s Prosecutor’s Office is responsible for guiding and supervising frontline budgets. Naturally, recipients must use the special activity funds for their intended purpose, and these are subject to post-audit and inspection.”

She added, “Auditing the Prosecutor General’s special activity funds is a legitimate duty performed by the minister, who holds budgetary guidance and supervision authority. To boldly label this as ‘picking on the Prosecutor General’s special activity funds’ is a very aggressive and emotional expression. We demand a prompt correction.”