Settings

ⓕ font-size

  • -2
  • -1
  • 0
  • +1
  • +2

New justice minister adds to Moon's woes

  • Facebook share button
  • Twitter share button
  • Kakao share button
  • Mail share button
  • Link share button
Lawmakers of the ruling Liberty Korea Party (LKP) hold a rally in front of Cheong Wa Dae, Friday, against Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae's recent reassignment of senior prosecutors. They are holding a sign that reads 'the people are angry with the massacre of the prosecution.
Lawmakers of the ruling Liberty Korea Party (LKP) hold a rally in front of Cheong Wa Dae, Friday, against Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae's recent reassignment of senior prosecutors. They are holding a sign that reads 'the people are angry with the massacre of the prosecution." Yonhap

Main opposition protest 'massacre of prosecution' at Cheong Wa Dae

By Do Je-hae

New Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae's Jan. 8 reassignments of key prosecutors has sparked intense strife among the political parties.

The main opposition Liberty Party of Korea (LKP) staged a rally in front of Cheong Wa Dae, Friday, to protest the reassignment which the party called a "massacre of the prosecution."

LKP floor leader Rep. Shim Jae-chul was joined by 30 lawmakers who strongly denounced Choo's removal of senior prosecutors as a "clear violation of relevant law and procedures."

"The justice minister is required by law to listen to the opinion of the prosecutor general in the nomination of top prosecutors before recommending them to the President. The minister completely ignored this process," Shim said.

"The Moon administration has destroyed teams that were investigating allegations involving Cheong Wa Dae to cover them up and interfere in the probes. Getting rid of the investigative teams will not erase all the corruption of Cheong Wa Dae. Its meddling in the investigation will only fuel the people's anger toward the administration," the LKP floor leader added.

The LKP claimed that the reassignment was ultimately aimed at ousting Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl for leading a meticulous investigation into the close aides of President Moon Jae-in. This includes Cho Kuk who served as Moon's first senior presidential secretary for civil affairs before being appointed justice minister in September 2019, only to leave 70 days into the job amid a corruption scandal involving him and his family members.

Impact on elections

The LKP is taking full advantage of the contentious move as a way to tarnish the Moon administration's reputation ahead of the April general election, widely seen as a midterm judgment on the President. During a party meeting earlier in the day, Shim compared the so-called "massacre of the prosecution" to the even worse "barbaric acts" that happened under the oppressive regime of Chung Doo-hwan. The party is vowing to push an impeachment motion to remove Choo from office and will seek other parties' cooperation in this regard.

The main opposition's backlash against the justice minister is a huge blow for Moon, who had hoped to revive the momentum for his cherished policy objective of "prosecutorial reform" with Choo's appointment and finally put the corruption saga of his previous justice minister Cho behind him.

The Choo-Yoon clash comes at a very bad time for Moon, who has been striving to mend severe public and political divisions in the aftermath of the Cho scandal, which cast mounting doubts about the integrity and sincerity of his administration. Public support for the President has been declining noticeably since his "unilateral" appointment of Cho despite a strong backlash.

The President is due to give a New Year press conference Jan. 14 and is expected to be bombarded by questions regarding "prosecutorial reform" and what he plans to do to settle the dispute between the ministry and the prosecution.

Cheong Wa Dae has indicated that it is standing by Choo, and expressed regret toward the clash between the heads of the prosecution and the justice ministry. "The ministry's reshuffle is duly comprised of balanced appointments and also reflects the need for investigations that respect human rights. There are some prospects that the reshuffle could impact the investigations involving [Cheong Wa Dae]. Such doubts reflect the deep mistrust in the prosecution. But we firmly believe that a fair and strict investigation will still take place with the reshuffle," a presidential aide said.

DPK Chairman Rep. Lee Hae-chan also sided with Choo, saying the prosecution's "insubordination" could not be overlooked.

Ministry vs. prosecution

Cheong Wa Dae had underlined Choo's formidable leadership built through her experience as a five-term lawmaker and former ruling party chairwoman as one of the key reasons for her appointment last month. In addition, the presidential office showed strong confidence in her ability to move ahead with overhauling the prosecution given her past experience as a judge.

Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae sends a text message at the National Assembly, Friday. Yonhap
Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae sends a text message at the National Assembly, Friday. Yonhap

Earlier this week, she reassigned prosecutors who were investigating allegations of power abuse and corruption illegalities at Cheong Wa Dae and replaced them with those with special ties to President Moon and the late former President Roh Moo-hyun.

During a National Assembly session after the reassignment was announced, she lashed out at the suspicions that it was aimed at interfering with the investigations into Cheong Wa Dae, saying that it was a "regular personnel arrangement" to fill vacancies that occurred due to resignations and other causes. She emphasized that the appointments had been determined strictly based on career experience and performance.

While it is customary for a new justice minister to carry out a "reshuffle" of the prosecution immediately after being appointed, she has been criticized for snubbing Yoon in the process. When confronted about this at the National Assembly, she said that it was the top prosecutor who had "defied her order" to submit his opinions about the reshuffle plan before it was announced. It was considered extremely rare for a justice minister to openly make a remark that indicated a sense of seniority over the nation's top prosecutor.

She elaborated that she had given Yoon ample time to respond to her request for feedback on the replacements, but he did not comply with the request. "I cancelled all engagements and waited six hours," Choo said at the National Assembly.

The clash between the ministry and the prosecution comes as prosecutors are widening their investigation of allegations that the presidential office meddled in the Ulsan mayoral elections in June 2018 to benefit a candidate with special ties to the President. The prosecution conducted a search and seizure operation of Cheong Wa Dae's office of secretary for balanced regional development Friday in connection with the allegations. The office has faced suspicions that it helped craft the election pledges of Ulsan Mayor Song Cheol-ho, who at the time was the candidate of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea.


Do Je-hae jhdo@koreatimes.co.kr


X
CLOSE

Top 10 Stories

go top LETTER