Justice Minister Park Beom-gye (right) met with Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol at the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul on the 5th to share opinions on the personnel of the prosecution. Provided by the Ministry of Justice
There was no significant movement. It wasn’t’Chumiae Season 2′, and there was no’reconciliation gesture’ for Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol. This is the story of the’first prosecutor’s greeting’ of the new Justice Minister Park Beom-gye held on the 7th. There were only two actual contents of the prosecutor-level or higher telegram personnel announced on this day:’The Prosecutor’s Office of the Ministry of Justice-the Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Trade’ and’Filling the seats of the chief prosecutor’s office in vacancy’.
The eye-catching part is the fact that the heads of the front-line prosecutors’ office’Big 2′, which is in charge of large-scale corruption investigations, were all filled with pro-government prosecutors. First of all, in terms of scale and investigative power, Prosecutor Lee Seong-yoon of the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office, who is the’largest and best in the country’, has remained in place despite public opinion that the prosecution needs replacement. Prosecutor Lee has been criticized for “leadership disappearance” by prosecutors under his command, continuing to postpone the conclusion of prosecutor Han Dong-hoon’s innocence, even though the suspicion of’prosecutor’s office’ leads to unfounded facts. It is known that Yoon also expressed an opinion that “the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office should be changed” at two meetings with Minister Park on the 2nd and 5th, but in the end, Minister Park chose the’Lee Seong-yoon’ card.
The Seoul South District District Prosecutors’ Office, who is mainly responsible for investigating politicians and financial corruption cases, was also led by Sim Jae-cheol, the Prosecutor General of the Ministry of Justice, who caused controversy several times. The Southern District Prosecutor’s Office is near Yeouido, Seoul, where the National Assembly and the financial sector are concentrated, and important events are concentrated. Currently, an investigation into allegations of corruption in Lime Asset Management targeting ruling party politicians is ongoing. Nevertheless, it is an unusual sign that Director Shim, who had shown an outright’regime-friendly’ move, playing a leading role in the disciplinary phase of President Yoon at the end of last year, as the new Southern District Prosecutor’s Office.
On the 7th, the contents of the announcement of the prosecutor level personnel and the list of major incumbent persons. Graphic = Reporter Kim Dae-hoon
Prosecutors both inside and outside the prosecution are raising doubts about this, saying, “Is it not intended to prevent Yoon from properly conducting the Seoul Central and Southern District Prosecutors’ Office until the end of his term in July this year?” This means that it is a stone for the Ministry of Justice and the Blue House to continue to exercise control to prevent Yoon from wielding the’prosecutor’s sword’ at will to target the current regime. A lawyer from the prosecutor’s office said, “The fact that Prosecutor Lee Seong-yoon Yoo-im and Director Shim Jae-cheol’s appearance of the southern district prosecutor’s office was in fact that Minister Park did not accept Yun’s request,” and said, “The Blue House still does not believe in him.”
From the perspective of Minister Park, there is also an interpretation that it was a’mystery’. This is because, by replacing the prosecutor’s office, who is in charge of conducting and supervising the prosecution’s affairs within the Ministry of Justice, it has at least a form of “accepting the opinion of President Yoon”. An executive of the local prosecutor’s office said, “If you retire from the prosecutor’s office, Director Shim has no choice but to get the image of’delegation’, but if you go to the southern district prosecutor’s office, it is difficult to see it as relegation.”
Prosecutor Lee Jeong-soo, who became the new Southern District Prosecutor’s Office in October last year, and then transferred to the Prosecutor’s Office after four months, is difficult to regard as a disgrace. Prosecutor Lee is also a junior of Park’s high school (Namgang High School, Seoul). In the end, while accepting the opinion of President Yoon’s’replacement of the prosecutor’s office’, the evaluation that Secretary Park took care of Shili is dominant. It is also a point where Minister Park can assert that it’reflected President Yoon’s demands’ regarding the surrender of District Prosecutor Lee Doo-bong, who is investigating the suspicion of manipulating the economic feasibility of the Wolseong nuclear power plant.
As this personnel was small, future attention is expected to focus on the personnel of the deputy general manager and the chief prosecutor who are in charge of the investigation team. This is because the intention of Minister Park, who mentioned that “the prosecution personnel are the most pressing issues,” can be properly revealed. However, most of the former and current prosecutors said, “Last summer, a large number of high-level prosecutors was carried out, and if the president is replaced six months later, it is inevitable that the personnel of the prosecutor’s officer will be inevitable again. “I look forward to it.
Jungwoo Kim reporter [email protected]
Joonki Jeong reporter [email protected]
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