material photo” alt=”Blue house view. Blue house view. <한겨레> Material photo
16 hours and 20 minutes. This is the time it took for the Blue House official response to the court’s decision to stop Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol’s two-month suspension. If you look at the time it took until the announcement of the position compressed into five sentences on the 25th following’Silence’ the day before, the pains of the Blue House can be felt intact.
■ “As a human resource holder, I apologize”
President Moon Jae-in did not stop at the line of “respecting the court’s decision,” but also expressed his apology to the people. Blue House spokesman Kang Min-suk said in a written briefing that afternoon, the striking sentence in President Moon’s words is “I apologize as a person in charge of personnel for causing discomfort and confusion.” Even though the president is the person in charge of Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, he expressed a sense of overall responsibility for the increase in political turmoil by neglecting the’Chu-yoon confrontation’ politically for a long time. President Moon, who was struggling with the’Chu-Yoon confrontation’, indirectly empowered Minister Chu whenever he had a chance. However, only on the 3rd, before the Prosecutors’ Disciplinary Committee of the Ministry of Justice opened against President Yun, the disciplinary committee’s’procedural legitimacy and fairness’ was only emphasized. The disciplinary proceedings were re-applied to President Yoon’s “two months of honesty” suggested by Minister Chu, but as the court overturned the decision, even the “procedural justification” was lost. President Moon’s “discipline of President Yoon” became a boomerang and returned to a considerable political burden. On the 7th, when the’Chu-Yoon confrontation’ continued, President Moon hurriedly expressed that he was “sorry to the people,” but this time, he said more clearly, saying, “I apologize,” as if it was due to concerns that the state-political confusion should not be further increased. .
President Moon Jae-in is speaking at the’Five Factors Invitation Meeting’ held at the Blue House on the morning of the 22nd. yunhap news
■ Nevertheless,’prosecution reform’
But President Moon did not forget to apologize and mention the reform of the prosecution. It is an expression of the justification and the determination not to lose the justification that all these goals are for the’prosecution reform’. In particular, it is interpreted as an intention to warn that the punishment of President Yun is seen as the essence of the prosecution reform. It can be seen from that background that President Moon mentioned the prosecution’s issue of judicial inspection and excessive prosecution rights and simultaneously discussed reform of the right of investigation. President Moon stressed that “I hope that the prosecution will be an opportunity to reflect on the exercise of the prosecution’s right to be fair and restrained.” However, President Moon said, “I respect the court’s decision,” unlike the ruling party, which strongly showed dissatisfaction with the judiciary immediately after the court’s decision was made the day before. It seems to reflect the concern that if the frontline is further unfolded due to the’passport-judicial confrontation’, it will not only cause controversy such as damage to the separation of powers, but also adversely affect public opinion.
■ What is the Blue House’Remaining Card’?
Although the Blue House has tried to correct the situation through an apology, it is not easy to find a breakthrough with public opinion support since the recent presidential approval rating has fallen below 40% and has not found a momentum for the rise. In addition, the conservative opposition is raising the level of attack against the Moon Jae-in government and is aiming for a’lame duck at the end of the term’. In a situation where the spread of Corona 19 does not stop, the opposition party’s focus on vaccination issues is also acting as a heavy burden. It is also predicted that after President Yoon Seok-yeol returned to his duties, major investigations such as the Lime-Optimus case and the suspicion of manipulating the economic feasibility of the Wolseong nuclear power plant unit 1, aiming at the current regime. Inside the Blue House, there are many opinions that it has no choice but to overcome the crisis through the process of systematically completing the prosecution reform, which is a key task of state affairs, while focusing on support measures to catch the spread of Corona 19 and reduce the suffering of people’s livelihood. It is expected that the high-ranking public officials criminal investigation agency (airborne agency) will be launched in January of next year, and the atmosphere will be renewed by carrying out additional reorganizations, including Minister Chu, as early as next year before Lunar New Year. Along with this, the possibility of reorganization of the Blue House secretary is also being discussed. An official at the Blue House said, “The adjustment of the prosecutor’s right to investigate the prosecution will be implemented in earnest from January next year, but the goal is to completely eliminate the direct investigation that still remains with the prosecution.” I think they will also gather together.” However, in order to prevent the approval rating from falling, progress in the field of public welfare such as stabilizing real estate prices, calming the spread of Corona 19, and recovering the economy must be made at the same time. Otherwise, it is a general prospect that it is not easy to recover approval ratings only by reforming the prosecution. The by-election of Seoul and Busan mayors in April is expected to be affected. By Seo Young-ji, staff reporter [email protected]