Representative Special Investigator During Prosecutor Tenure
Appointed Prosecutor General After Unprecedented Promotion
Standing Against Living Power
Conflict Over Prosecution Reform with Cho Kuk and Chu Mi-ae
[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] A prosecutor with a strong backbone who does not bow to the regime. This has been the word that described former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol. Thanks to his sharp edge, he was appointed and persecuted through various trials and tribulations, and now he has thrown down the gauntlet against the political power that once controlled him.
Born in Seoul in 1960, those around him remember him as someone who took good care of his friends and had smooth interpersonal relationships. A famous anecdote from the early 1980s when law students gathered for a mock trial of the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement is that former Prosecutor General Yoon played the role of prosecutor and demanded the death penalty for President Chun Doo-hwan. After graduating from university, he fully committed to the judicial examination but failed eight times before passing on his ninth attempt.
During his tenure in the prosecution, he was known as a representative special investigator. He was also praised for leading the so-called ‘Yoon Seok-yeol faction’ with his unique ‘charisma.’ During the Roh Moo-hyun administration, he arrested former Chungnam Governor Ahn Hee-jung, a close aide to the president, and former Changshin Textile Chairman Kang Geum-won. Later, he took charge of major cases such as the Hyundai Motor slush fund case and the BBK case as a special prosecutor. During the investigation of the Busan Savings Bank, he even arrested the president’s brother.
In 2013, under the direction of then Prosecutor General Chae Dong-wook, he investigated the ‘National Intelligence Service online comment manipulation case.’ Although he was praised for principled investigations, conflict with the Park Geun-hye government, the living power, was inevitable. At a National Assembly audit as a witness, he made headlines by saying, "I do not pledge loyalty to any person." He faced disciplinary actions after incidents of insubordination. The power demoted him to Daegu High Prosecutors’ Office, but it was also the power that revived him. Former Prosecutor General Yoon made a spectacular comeback by joining the special prosecutor team for the ‘Park Geun-hye-Choi Soon-sil Gate.’ The Moon Jae-in administration appointed him as the second-in-command of the prosecution as the head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office and he was inaugurated as Prosecutor General in 2019. Leading the investigation into the previous regime’s corruption driven by the Moon administration, he also arrested former President Lee Myung-bak in 2018.
The second persecution began when former Blue House Civil Affairs Secretary Cho Kuk was appointed Minister of Justice. On the day of Cho’s confirmation hearing, a sudden search and seizure was conducted, drawing criticism from the current government for ‘interfering in politics.’ After Cho’s successor, Minister Choo Mi-ae, took office, conflicts with the regime reached their peak. During the so-called ‘Choo-Yoon conflict,’ many of Yoon’s close aides were demoted, and he himself was excluded from investigations and suspended from duty, effectively becoming a ‘figurehead prosecutor general.’ Struggling to endure the conflict with Minister Choo, he resigned from his position in March, criticizing the abolition of the prosecution’s direct investigative authority.
At the press conference held upon his resignation, he clearly expressed his intention to confront the current government head-on, stating, "The constitutional spirit and the rule of law system that have sustained this country are being destroyed." Afterward, during 118 days of seclusion, he met with prominent figures to study presidential politics and solidified his intention to run. Recently, there were disturbances such as replacing his spokesperson due to mixed messages regarding his entry into the People Power Party, and allegations related to his wife, mother-in-law, and other family members surfaced, known as the so-called ‘X-file’ controversy.
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