Park Min-sik: "Choo, Following a Script... The Goal is to 'Undermine Yoon Seok-yeol'"

Former Assemblyman Park Min-sik is holding a press conference to announce his candidacy for the Busan mayoral by-election next year at the Busan City Council briefing room on the morning of the 9th. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Seul-gi] Former lawmaker Park Min-sik of the People Power Party (formerly Saenuri Party) criticized Justice Minister Chu Mi-ae, saying, "The order to suspend Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol from duty is, in a word, a declaration of martial law by the ruling power to seize control of the prosecution."

On the 24th, Park posted on his Facebook, "However, it is not surprising. It seems like a military operation moving according to a prearranged script," he said.

Park stated, "Since the Cho Kuk incident, the ruling power set a national agenda to oust Yoon Seok-yeol. Minister Chu just took the lead," adding, "They have persistently attacked him using the 'three-piece set' of personnel authority, inspection authority, and chief prosecutor command authority, then fabricated forced justifications with patchwork reasons."

He further pointed out, "President Moon Jae-in is truly cowardly. If there is wrongdoing, he should have initiated impeachment procedures in the National Assembly or directly dismissed him. Instead, he got his hands dirty and, burdened by public opinion, made Minister Chu carry out this underhanded act unprecedented in constitutional history."

He said, "President Moon will now pretend not to know and exercise his dismissal power. He might even make the cunning choice to dismiss Minister Chu as well. But the public already knows everything," and criticized sharply, "No matter how much they dress it up or follow procedures, it is ultimately a pre-scripted ousting of Prosecutor General Yoon."

He continued, "Yoon, whom they believed to be an ally, suddenly turned into a traitor when he wielded a sword against the regime's corruption. They talk about prosecutorial reform with their mouths, but it is ultimately a step toward seizing control of the prosecution," adding, "Therefore, the order to suspend Prosecutor General Yoon from duty will not be the trump card they expect, but the trigger for their downfall."

On the same day, Minister Chu issued an unprecedented order to suspend Prosecutor General Yoon from duty, citing five disciplinary reasons, including inappropriate contact with media company owners. In response, Prosecutor General Yoon rebutted, "I will legally respond to this illegal and unjust disposition to the end."