"Yoon Must Step Down" vs "President Moon's Silence, Expert Level"... Choo-Yoon Conflict, Political Sphere's Daily Disputes

Kim Du-gwan "Jeon Du-hwan-level Idea" · Hwang Un-ha "Traitor"
Joo Ho-young "End-stage Phenomenon of a Failing Regime"

On the morning of the 24th, Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae (right) attending the Cabinet meeting and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl going to work. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] The conflict between the ruling and opposition parties over Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae's suspension and disciplinary orders against Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol is intensifying. While the ruling party continues to pressure Yoon to resign by raising suspicions of the prosecution's 'surveillance of judges,' the opposition party has identified the Blue House as the force behind Yoon's suspension and urged President Moon Jae-in to make a statement.

Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Du-kwan said on the 29th through his Facebook, "Prosecutor General Yoon must step down immediately. He has failed to be loyal to the nation and the public," adding, "He was loyal only to himself and the prosecution organization. Yoon surveilled the judiciary and investigated the president's nuclear power policy. He has abandoned being the nation's prosecution and the prosecution of democracy."

He continued, "The era of the prosecution republic must end with Yoon Seok-yeol's departure. Since his inauguration, Yoon has been solely focused on 'prosecutorial politics' attacking the president," and criticized, "In cases targeting the president, such as the Cho Kuk case or the Ulsan city special investigation, when no crime was found despite digging deep, he resorted to a Chun Doo-hwan-level idea of surveilling judges."

He said, "The Ministry of Justice's inspection and suspension are only natural," and added, "A disciplinary committee should be held according to law and principles to dismiss him. Naturally, I support Minister Choo together with the people."

Democratic Party lawmaker Hwang Un-ha, a former police officer, also joined the criticism. On his Facebook, he said, "With Yoon Seok-yeol's departure, the tiresome era of the prosecution must come to an end," and criticized, "Yoon recklessly intervened in areas that should have been restrained, inciting fierce confrontations between factions and regressing democracy. For this alone, he deserves to be judged as a major criminal in the court of history."

Democratic Party legal spokesperson Kim Han-gyu also stated in an afternoon briefing, "Investigating, collecting, recording, and disclosing personal information and reputations of individual judges to other departments is a violation of the Personal Information Protection Act," and pointed out, "Ordering a prosecutor in charge of investigation information, unrelated to prosecution maintenance, to create such illegal documents may also constitute abuse of authority."

Spokesperson Kim said, "If, as Prosecutor General Yoon claims, this is legally permitted and a legitimate act for maintaining trials, has such information collection been done in the past?" and questioned, "Will data on the tendencies of 2,872 judges continue to be collected for the purpose of prosecution maintenance? If he cannot answer 'yes' to these questions, it means he admits his actions were illegal."

Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the floor leaders' meeting held at the National Assembly on the 27th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the other hand, the People Power Party is continuously urging President Moon to make a statement regarding Yoon's suspension.

Floor leader Joo Ho-young said at a video meeting of lawmakers, "The president's silence has reached an expert level," and criticized, "Even when the Minister of Justice creates a situation disregarding parliamentary principles in broad daylight, the president remains silent. This can only be seen as tacit approval or tolerance of Minister Choo."

He added, "The longer the president remains silent, the more the public will refuse to acknowledge him to the same extent as his silence," raising his voice, "We are witnessing the terminal symptoms of a collapsing regime everywhere."

People Power Party spokesperson Kim Eun-hye also said in a statement that day, "The essence of the matter lies in the Blue House suddenly overturning the table and halting investigations when the prosecution's probe into the manipulation of nuclear power economic feasibility and election interference in Ulsan points toward the 'president,' disregarding 'rule of law' and 'separation of powers.'"

She further condemned, "Under the president's tacit approval and Minister Choo's theatrics, the completion of dictatorship has passed the final hurdle," and said, "The angry public is completely ignored."