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| Prosecutor-General Yoon Seok-youl heads to the cafeteria for lunch at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seoul, Monday. Liberals have accused the prosecution of having leaked classified investigation information regarding Justice Minister Cho Kuk's family. Yonhap |
By Kim Hyun-bin
Controversy continues over the leaking of information and material obtained by prosecutors during their investigation into newly appointed Justice Minister Cho Kuk's family.
The ruling bloc and Cho's supporters have accused them of leaking the material on purpose to create negative public sentiment toward him and prevent him from carrying out President Moon Jae-in's key policy goal of reforming the prosecution. Prosecutors, however, have flatly denied such speculation.
After prosecutors launched their investigation into Cho late last month as a nominee before his appointment Monday, a petition was posted on the Cheong Wa Dae website, Aug. 28, calling for the "punishment" of Prosecutor-General Yoon Seok-youl for leaking confidential information.
The petitioner cited a report by a conservative broadcaster, which said the prosecution obtained a document showing Busan Medical Center chief Roh Hwan-jung meddled in the appointment of President Moon's doctor. Roh, former head of Pusan National University (PNU) Yangsan Hospital, provided scholarships to Cho's daughter who is attending Pusan university's medical school.
"As the information about Roh was seized, Yoon handed it over to the media which then reported it exclusively," the petitioner claimed. "So Yoon should be punished for leaking secrets obtained while on duty."
The petition garnered close to 430,000 signatures in support as of Monday.
Senior presidential secretary for political affairs Kang Gi-jung also implied that Cheong Wa Dae suspects the information leak originates with the prosecution.
"If information about an ongoing investigation is leaked, it is a crime," he told reporters Aug. 30.
Park Jie-won, an independent lawmaker, revealed a color photo of an alleged certificate awarded from the Dongyang University president to Cho's daughter, during the confirmation hearing of Cho, Friday.
The certificate has been one of the key pieces of evidence in allegations surrounding Cho's family, as it is suspected Cho's wife, professor Chung Kyung-sim of Dongyang University, fabricated the certificate to help her daughter get into Pusan National University Medical School. Prosecutors indicted Chung on the charge late Friday while the confirmation hearing was ongoing.
While suspicions grew that prosecutors leaked the photo to Park, prosecutors said the certificate photo Park has was different from the one they obtained, claiming theirs is a black-and-white copy of the certificate submitted by Cho's daughter to PNU.
As controversy rose, Park said on social media that he did not obtain the photo from either Cho's family or the prosecution, adding he wouldn't disclose how he got it. Prosecutors also said they will conduct a separate investigation into how he obtained the photo.
During the hearing, Rep. Kim Jin-tae of the Liberty Korea Party (LPK) accused Cho of helping his daughter on the draft of a thesis for research conducted at Dankook University. Cho's daughter took part in the study during a two-week internship as a high school student but was named as the lead author.
Based on a newspaper report, Kim said the draft, sent to professor Chang Young-pyo who was in charge of the study, was drawn up on Cho's computer, as the file names indicated. Kim claimed Cho was deeply involved in the irregularities surrounding the thesis.
Ruling Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers claimed the information couldn't have been obtained unless the prosecution leaked forensic evidence.
However, the prosecution claimed there have not been any leaks of files or classified information.
"The claim made during the confirmation hearing that forensic evidence was leaked is completely untrue. The press, related university and organizations obtained the materials on their own, and there are no signs the prosecution's forensic evidence was leaked," it said in a statement.
