Park Beom-gye: "There Was No Mention of 'Speed Control' in the President's Remarks"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Park Beom-gye, Minister of Justice, stated regarding the controversy over President Moon Jae-in's mention of 'speed adjustment' in prosecutorial reform, "There was no expression of speed adjustment in the President's remarks."

Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye attended the plenary meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held at the National Assembly on the 25th, carefully reviewing the documents with a serious expression. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

On the 25th, Minister Park, who appeared at the full meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, said about the previous day when Yoo Young-min, Chief of Staff to the President, mentioned 'speed adjustment' at the National Assembly's Steering Committee, "I have spoken about the meaning you felt," and added, "Please interpret it considering the intent of my answer during the current issues inquiry on the 22nd."

He also added, "It is difficult to agree that the party and the President have different opinions when the Democratic Party's party stance has not yet been decided."

On the same day, when Yoon Han-hong, a member of the People Power Party, referred to Minister Park's statement that he would follow the party stance as a member of the National Assembly before being a minister, Park said, "It was a fundamental remark within the larger framework of party-government consultation." Minister Park explained, "It means that if my orientation and the various opinions within the Democratic Party are aggregated and decided legislatively and policy-wise, I will follow."

He emphasized, "I have never taken any action that would lose political neutrality either in behavior or policy decisions."

Jo Soo-jin, a member of the People Power Party, inquired about the timing of President Moon Jae-in's approval of the personnel appointments for chief prosecutors. Jo said, "The main point of the chief prosecutor-level announcement was that people close to the Moon administration were appointed to key positions, and the Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs found it difficult to act as a coordinator between the Ministry of Justice and the prosecution," and asked, "How do you view the claim that Minister Park's arbitrariness was revealed in this process?"

Minister Park responded, "I will substitute with the remarks made by the Chief of Staff to the President who appeared at the Steering Committee yesterday," and stated, "There was prior approval, and then the announcement was made." He added, "I do not think it was arbitrary."

Regarding his statement on the 22nd at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee that the 'pinpoint reporting' of prosecutorial personnel matters was a 'criminal act,' he said, "I was not referring to the media's reporting behavior, but to the attitude of public officials handling official secrets that made the reporting possible."

Then, Kim Do-eup, a member of the People Power Party, asked, "After Senior Secretary Shin's four-day leave ended, he expressed his intention to resign again to the President, but the Blue House reportedly asked him to work only until a successor was found. There are rumors that the Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs will be replaced after the by-election. Do you know anything about this?" Minister Park answered, "I do not know."