Park Beom-gye Flustered by Yoon's Continuous Hardline Approach

"Please speak gently," urges restraint in response... Expected to visit Gwangju on the 5th to gauge the internal atmosphere of the prosecution

[Asia Economy Reporter Bae Kyunghwan] The continued hardline remarks by Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol have put Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye in an awkward position. While indirectly expressing discomfort by saying, "It would be better if you spoke more gently," he seems to be refraining from counterattacks like those of former Minister Choo Mi-ae. Minister Park plans to first visit frontline prosecution offices to gauge the atmosphere within the prosecution.

According to the Ministry of Justice on the 4th, Minister Park will visit the Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office and Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office on the 5th to hold a meeting with ordinary prosecutors. This is part of a tour schedule continuing visits to frontline prosecution offices, starting with the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office on the 10th of last month.

Some expect this to be an opportunity for Minister Park to listen to the opinions of ordinary prosecutors and assess the mood regarding the separation of investigation and prosecution and the ruling party's push to establish a Serious Crime Investigation Office. In fact, Minister Park has not made any significant response to Prosecutor General Yoon's pointed remarks. His cautious stance was limited to saying, "I hope you also consider the aspect of abuse of investigative authority," in opposition to the establishment of the Serious Crime Investigation Office.

In the legal community, there are concerns that if Minister Park joins the political sphere in targeting Prosecutor General Yoon, it could lead to a recurrence of the prosecution turmoil seen last year or the public backlash experienced during former Minister Choo's tenure. Moreover, Minister Park has been criticized for failing to properly unify the Ministry of Justice and the prosecution organization despite having been in office for only about a month.

However, Minister Park cannot avoid responsibility. Shortly after his appointment, he caused the first conflict by not accepting Prosecutor General Yoon's opinions during high-level prosecution personnel appointments, and later triggered another conflict by granting investigative authority to Lim Eun-jung, the Inspection Policy Research Officer at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, during mid-level personnel appointments.

Regarding the investigative authority granted to Research Officer Lim, Han Dong-soo, head of the Inspection Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, who has been at odds with Prosecutor General Yoon, and former Minister Choo have also joined the fray. Furthermore, with Minister Park stating that "(Research Officer Lim) should not be prevented from conducting investigations," the frontlines of conflict between the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office appear to be expanding.

Within the prosecution, the possibility of Minister Park and Prosecutor General Yoon meeting to resolve the situation is considered low. Although Minister Park has expressed willingness to meet with Prosecutor General Yoon to discuss related matters, scheduling of such a meeting at the working-level has not yet been arranged. Moreover, Prosecutor General Yoon took a half-day leave this morning and did not come to work, leading some to speculate that he is contemplating his position.