Prosecutors After Yoon Seok-yeol's Departure: What Happens to Regime and Family Investigations?

Under Acting Chief Jo Nam-gwan, a Leading Candidate for Prosecutor General, It Seems Difficult to Accelerate Regime Investigation
Investigation Speed Likely to Increase for Prosecutor Yoon, His Family, and Close Associates

[Asia Economy Reporters Seokjin Choi, Kyunghwan Bae] Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol's sudden resignation with more than four months left in his term has drawn attention to the direction of major investigations by the prosecution, which has lost its central figure.

Currently, the prosecution is conducting multiple investigations related to the administration, including the ‘Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Economic Feasibility Manipulation’ case, as well as investigations into Yoon himself, his family, and close associates following his resignation.

According to the Ministry of Justice and the prosecution on the 5th, even if a candidate recommended by the Prosecutor General Candidate Recommendation Committee of the Ministry of Justice and proposed by the Minister is appointed as the next Prosecutor General, considering the schedule for the confirmation hearing, it is highly likely that the acting Prosecutor General system under Deputy Prosecutor General Cho Nam-gwan will continue until before the by-election scheduled for early April.

The Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office stands at a crossroads regarding the ‘Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant’ case, where it plans to re-request an arrest warrant for former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Baek Woon-gyu, whose previous arrest warrant was dismissed, and expand the investigation to determine whether higher-ups in the Blue House, including former Industrial Policy Secretary Chae Hee-bong (currently President of Korea Gas Corporation), were involved.

In the ‘Kim Hak-ui Illegal Departure’ case under investigation by the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, only an arrest warrant has been requested for Cha Gyu-geun, head of the Immigration and Foreign Policy Headquarters, while Lee Sung-yoon, head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, who is suspected of ‘investigation interference,’ has not even been summoned for questioning before the case was transferred to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO). However, since the CIO has not yet completed its staffing and organizational setup, there remains a possibility that CIO Chief Kim Jin-wook may re-transfer the cases involving Lee and Prosecutor Lee Kyu-won back to the prosecution.

The ‘Ulsan Mayor Election Interference’ case under investigation by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office has also seen no progress since the indictment of Ulsan Mayor Song Cheol-ho and former Blue House Civil Affairs Secretary Baek Won-woo in January last year.

In the situation where Prosecutor General Yoon has stepped down, there is a prevailing view that the momentum for investigating these cases, which the Blue House and ruling party strongly perceive as ‘political investigations’ by the prosecution, will inevitably decline.

Deputy Prosecutor General Cho, who sided with Yoon during the disciplinary request incident last year and asked then Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae to “take a step back,” is in a difficult position to push forward investigations related to the administration, despite being a strong candidate for the next Prosecutor General.

On the other hand, there is speculation that investigations into Yoon himself, his family, and close associates, led by Lee Sung-yoon, may accelerate following Yoon’s resignation.

These include the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation suspicion case involving Yoon’s wife Kim Geon-hee, the memorial park case related to Yoon’s mother-in-law Choi, and the bribery cover-up suspicion case involving Yoon Woo-jin, former Yongsan Tax Office chief and elder brother of Yoon Dae-jin, head of the Judicial Research and Training Institute, who is close to Yoon.

These matters were subjects of investigation directives issued by former Minister Choo last year, and Minister Park Beom-gye also stated that he would “supervise and direct to ensure swift investigations.”

Especially if Yoon embarks on a political career, political interest is expected to focus on the results of these investigations.

A ruling party official with a prosecution background said, “Some cases are approaching the statute of limitations, and some have already been brought to trial, so results are expected soon. However, since Yoon is now being mentioned as a politician, related suspicions will continue to follow him regardless of the investigation outcomes.”

Meanwhile, Yoon has filed an administrative lawsuit with the Seoul Administrative Court last year, challenging the ‘two-month suspension’ disciplinary action against him. With Yoon’s resignation, even if he loses the lawsuit, the execution of the disciplinary action becomes impossible, and if he wins, the benefit of the lawsuit disappears, making it highly likely that Yoon will withdraw the lawsuit or the court will dismiss it.