Joo Ho-young "Chu Mi-ae, Not Yoon Seok-yeol, Should Be Subject to National Investigation"... Kim Jong-in "What Is Moon's Role?" (Summary)

Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, held an emergency press conference on the 25th at the National Assembly regarding Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae's disciplinary request against Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hye-min] On the 25th, Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, directed his remarks at Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who expressed intentions to push for a parliamentary investigation into Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, stating, "A parliamentary investigation should be promptly conducted on Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae, not Prosecutor General Yoon."

On the afternoon of the 25th, Joo held an emergency press briefing at the National Assembly with Kim Jong-in, chairman of the Emergency Response Committee, and said, "Lee's call for a parliamentary investigation reminds me of the proverb 'the one who farted is the one who gets angry'."

Regarding Minister Choo's decision to suspend Prosecutor General Yoon's duties, he said, "This matter sufficiently involves abuse of authority, overstepping of power, and unconstitutionality by Minister Choo, so a parliamentary investigation into her should be conducted," adding, "In the process, the legality of Prosecutor General Yoon's suspension will naturally be revealed."

Joo also urged, "I strongly request that the Democratic Party take this opportunity to demand parliamentary investigations into the Wolsong Unit 1 nuclear reactor and the illegal support in the Ulsan mayoral election, which the opposition has persistently called for," emphasizing, "Although these are separate issues, the Democratic Party has refused these investigations by using their numerical power despite the obvious need for them, so they should be conducted together at this time."

He also refuted point by point the six grounds Minister Choo presented for suspending Prosecutor General Yoon's duties, saying, "I cannot help but raise issues with them."

First, regarding the claim of an inappropriate meeting with Hong Seok-hyun, owner of JoongAng Ilbo, before a trial, he argued, "The case in which the media outlet was sued for defamation related to JTBC's report on Choi Soon-sil's tablet PC had already been indicted and was before the court, so there is no issue with the timing."

On allegations of illegal surveillance of the trial panel in important cases such as the Cho Kuk case, he explained, "The Supreme Prosecutors' Office collected information on publicly known judges and provided it to frontline prosecutors, which is an act within the scope of administrative support to determine whether to request disqualification or recusal of the trial panel." Regarding the neglect of inspection and obstruction of investigation in the Channel A and Han Myeong-sook cases, he added, "Both cases raised human rights concerns during the investigation process and were transferred to the Human Rights Department according to Supreme Prosecutors' Office regulations."

Joo said, "The issue of external leakage of Channel A inspection information has not been clarified at all," and argued, "Regarding the impairment of political neutrality, Prosecutor General Yoon requested twice to be excluded from public opinion polls, and Minister Choo, by provoking Yoon who was staying silent, actually caused his approval rating to rise, so it is absurd for her to raise this as a problem herself."

He further stated, "It has been revealed that Minister Choo quietly changed the Ministry of Justice's inspection regulations on the 3rd so that she could decide on inspections without consulting the Inspection Committee to exclude Prosecutor General Yoon from his duties," adding, "Since Minister Choo also chairs the disciplinary committee, the structure effectively reflects the minister's will, making it difficult to expect procedural fairness."

Chairman Kim Jong-in also criticized, "When looking at the matter related to the suspension of duties, I doubt whether it truly corresponds to the suspension of the Prosecutor General's duties," and said, "I am skeptical whether this was an appropriate level for the future of our country's prosecution."

Chairman Kim said, "Watching the process of the Prosecutor General's suspension yesterday, it looked like the elected power could not exercise restraint and destroyed the basic order of democracy," and questioned, "I do not understand the Democratic Party's attitude toward this issue. Just because the Democratic Party holds a large number of seats in the National Assembly, should they exercise the tyranny of the majority and disrupt the order of democracy?"

He added, "Regarding this issue, I want to ask what role the president, who holds personnel authority, is playing," and criticized, "Minister Choo reportedly reported to the president before suspending duties, but if such a situation warrants suspension, the president, who holds personnel authority, could also dismiss the Prosecutor General. How did this situation arise to make the country look ridiculous?"