1st Anniversary of Inauguration, Lowest Performance Evaluation... Park Beom-gye "Many Unfinished Tasks"

Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye is attending the plenary session of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held at the National Assembly on the 26th, responding to questions from lawmakers. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Park Beom-gye, Minister of Justice, marked his first anniversary in office on the 28th. However, it is not a time for unreserved celebration. The Ministry of Justice, under his leadership, received the lowest grade, C, among 45 central administrative agencies in the 'Government Performance Evaluation' based on last year. Minister Park stated, "There are many unfinished tasks," and added, "I will not stop and will work harder on field administration."

According to legal circles on the 29th, the Ministry of Justice did not receive good scores in the performance evaluation due to deductions related to controversies over 'political neutrality' and noise during prosecutorial personnel appointments.

In particular, many evaluations pointed to the controversy surrounding prosecutorial personnel appointments as the main cause. In February last year, during the appointment process of senior prosecutors, allegations arose that Minister Park bypassed then Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl and decided on the personnel plan. This led to the resignation of Shin Hyun-soo, then Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs at the Blue House. Since then, noise has never ceased during prosecutorial appointments. This month, Minister Park expressed his intention to appoint an external expert on major disaster prevention to a prosecutor-general level position, which drew criticism from inside and outside the prosecution. Ultimately, Minister Park withdrew this plan.

The COVID-19 cluster infection incident in detention centers, which Minister Park paid close attention to immediately after taking office, has not subsided. On January 28 last year, his first schedule after inauguration was to visit Seoul Eastern Detention Center, where many COVID-19 cases were confirmed, to inspect quarantine measures. Over the past year, he visited related sites 112 times. Although he announced plans to prepare countermeasures, concerns about cluster infections remain. In December last year, 57 inmates and staff were infected in Hongseong Prison, Chungnam, and on this day, 43 inmates at Seoul Eastern Detention Center were confirmed positive again.

On his way to the Ministry of Justice yesterday, Minister Park said, "I have been rushing forward without rest, but I felt some changes and pride as the functions of each department, bureau, and headquarters became more active." Regarding the Serious Accident Punishment Act, which has been enforced since the 27th, he said, "The Ministry of Justice and the prosecution have many workplaces with over 50 employees, so we are preparing. The Ministry of Justice is preparing the fastest among all ministries and needs to establish an organization. We are also encouraging the prosecution to do the same."