Choi Jae-sung "Moon Jae-in Demanding Chu Mi-ae's Resignation? He Is Not That Kind of Person"

Former Senior Secretary for Political Affairs at Cheong Wa Dae, KBS Radio Interview
"Moon Tried to Protect Prosecutor General's Term"

Choi Jae-sung, former Senior Secretary for Political Affairs at the Blue House, criticized former Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae's claim that she stepped down from her ministerial position at the request of former President Moon Jae-in, saying, "She said she was resigning of her own will, but now to say that former President Moon told her to quit is inconsistent."

In an interview with KBS Radio's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs' on the 3rd, former Secretary Choi said, "The process and environment at the time may have made her feel that way as Minister of Justice," but added, "Former President Moon did not explicitly tell her to quit, nor is he the type to do so."

Earlier, former Minister Chu claimed in an interview with the YouTube channel 'OhmyTV' on the 30th of last month that her resignation from the Ministry of Justice was due to a request from former President Moon. She said, "I wanted to tell him that if I stayed on, I could properly conclude the disciplinary case against Yoon Seok-youl (then Prosecutor General) and the prosecution reform, so I went to see him, but the conclusion was the same. A hollow conclusion." At that time, former Minister Chu was in conflict and confrontation with Yoon Seok-youl, then Prosecutor General.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding this, former Secretary Choi explained that it was a decision made to protect the term of office of Yoon Seok-youl, then Prosecutor General. He said, "The Prosecutor General's term is independent and guaranteed," adding, "When the People Power Party took power, if they didn't like the Prosecutor General, they would remove him by any means, but the Democratic Party government protected that and made efforts to do so."

Former Secretary Choi said, "From my perspective, I thought there were serious problems with the way Prosecutor General Yoon carried out his duties and his behavior," but added, "However, the term of office cannot be shaken unless there is a clear legal or judicial basis for disciplinary action. I believe former President Moon made personnel decisions with that understanding."

He continued, "If you recall, after Prosecutor General Yoon was disciplined, he filed an injunction and was reinstated as Prosecutor General. At that time, former President Moon apologized to the public, saying, 'As the person in charge of personnel, I am sorry to the people,'" adding, "The Minister of Justice is within the scope of personnel authority, and the Prosecutor General is also under personnel authority, but since the term is guaranteed and a certain independence is clearly granted, that was respected."

When the host asked, "Did former Minister Chu think that if she submitted her resignation, the Prosecutor General would also resign along with her?" he replied, "That is Chu's own thought," and said, "Then she shouldn't have submitted her resignation; that doesn't make sense."

Former Secretary Choi said, "If she thought 'If I step down, the Prosecutor General will also step down,' she should have expressed that intention," adding, "I know well about the conflict between Prosecutor General Yoon and former Minister Chu at the time, but the Prosecutor General was not someone who would resign just because the Minister resigned. The injunction regarding the disciplinary action was already underway, so how could anyone think that if the Minister of Justice resigned normally, the Prosecutor General would also resign?"

He went on, "Even if nothing had happened and the atmosphere was to proceed naturally, it would be one thing, but since the conflict escalated sharply and all sorts of incidents occurred, saying 'Because Minister Chu resigned, Prosecutor General Yoon resigned, so I submitted my resignation' is a logic that cannot be established," he said.