Park Beom-gye, Last Commute Today "Mixed Emotions... Remembering Ten Thousand Hardships"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] On the 6th, Park Beom-gye, Minister of Justice, made his final commute to the Gwacheon Government Complex and expressed his reflections, saying, "There were spicy and bitter moments, but sometimes I was happy. Mixed feelings are crossing my mind."

Minister Park arrived at the Ministry of Justice in the Gwacheon Government Complex at around 8:55 a.m., slightly earlier than usual. He will hold a farewell ceremony at the Ministry of Justice's main conference room at 5 p.m. on the same day. It has been one year and five months since his inauguration on February 1 of last year. He was the fourth Minister of Justice under the Moon Jae-in administration, following Park Sang-ki, Cho Kuk, and Choo Mi-ae. Minister Park said, "The phrase 천신만고 (thousands of hardships) comes to mind," adding, "My future plans are not yet finalized. Anyway, I will do my best."

After the farewell ceremony, Minister Park will return to the National Assembly. He served as a minister while being an incumbent member of the National Assembly. The day before, he visited the grave of the late former President Roh Moo-hyun in Bongha Village, Gimhae, Gyeongsangnam-do, and posted on social media, "Reporting my return to the National Assembly in advance to President Roh Moo-hyun." This is interpreted as his intention to support the prosecutorial reform tasks that his party, the Democratic Party of Korea, is swiftly pushing forward before the regime change.

Immediately after his inauguration, Minister Park visited the Seoul Eastern Detention Center, where a COVID-19 outbreak occurred, more than 100 times to inspect problematic sites. He also worked to revitalize other departments and bureaus that had been relatively neglected due to the dominance of the Prosecutor's Office. However, these achievements did not receive much attention due to sharp conflicts with the prosecution.

Minister Park positioned himself as the "closing pitcher of prosecutorial reform" and confronted the prosecution throughout his term. In February last year, he made the first personnel appointments without consulting then-Prosecutor General and President-elect Yoon Seok-youl, causing internal backlash. A month later, he exercised his authority to order a reinvestigation regarding allegations of witness tampering by the investigation team of former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook.

Recently, during the "Complete Removal of Prosecutorial Investigation Rights (Geomsu Wanbak)" phase, he repeatedly expressed support for the compromise plan prepared by the National Assembly. In response, the prosecution's internal network was flooded with demands for Minister Park, as the head of the relevant ministry, to represent the prosecution's position. However, Minister Park only reiterated the same stance. On the 3rd, when the Geomsu Wanbak bill was promulgated at the Cabinet meeting and procedural illegality and unconstitutionality were raised, he emphasized, "It is difficult to conclude that way," adding, "There was bipartisan agreement, approval by party caucuses, and substantial discussions between the two parties during the agenda adjustment committee and the judiciary committee, which were reflected in the final bill."

With Minister Park's departure, the Ministry of Justice is expected to be operated temporarily under the acting leadership of Deputy Minister Kang Seong-guk. Han Dong-hoon, Deputy Director of the Judicial Research and Training Institute and the nominee for Minister Park's successor as the first Minister of Justice in the new administration, is scheduled for a confirmation hearing at the National Assembly on the 9th.