Ministry of Justice for reviewing immediate appeal, silence after president apology

Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae has not made a separate position on the court’s decision to suspend the two-month suspension of Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol. His Facebook has also stopped since the 16th, the day when the Prosecutors’ Disciplinary Committee of the Ministry of Justice decided to be honest. At that time, Minister Chu quoted poet Chung Ho-seung’s poem’Splinters’ and left a message saying, “It was a dream for an impartial world even if it broke into pieces.”

According to the prosecution on the 27th, the Ministry of Justice is struggling over whether to immediately appeal the decision of the Seoul Administrative Court on the 24th. An immediate appeal is a procedure in which an application is filed with a superior court in objection to a court decision, etc., and must be submitted to the lower court within 7 days. It was decided on the 24th, so the 31st is the deadline. At the moment, Minister Lee Ok-hyung and other ministers are not answering any questions from reporters asking whether to make an immediate appeal. Minister Chu said on the 24th, “After analyzing the decision, we will review the immediate appeal.”

Minister Chu’s side immediately appealed to the Administrative Court’s decision on the 1st, which accepted the application for suspension of the exclusion of duties. However, this time, the situation is different in that Minister Chu expressed his appreciation to President Moon Jae-in on the 16th for reapproving the discipline of President Yoon. On the 25th, President Moon officially apologized for the controversy over Yoon’s disciplinary action, saying, “I respect the court’s decision.”

In this situation, there are opinions in the legal community that “it is absurd for the Ministry of Justice to make an immediate appeal even though the President apologized.” One legal official said, “Because the President made an apology in person, Minister Chu was not resignation, it was virtually stiff.” There are also prospects that my resignation will be accepted this week for Minister Chu.

However, even if the procedure for accepting Minister Chu’s resignation continues, it is analyzed that the offensive to press President Yun will continue in January with the operation of the prosecutor’s office and the high-ranking public officials criminal investigation office (airport office). A former prosecutor’s lawyer predicted, “Even if Vice Minister of Justice Lee Yong-gu or someone else comes, the prosecution’s personnel will be executed to prevent investigations against the current government.”

On the 28th, the nomination committee for candidates for the Minister of Public Transport will determine the two finalists. After that, when the president nominates the last one, the airlift will function. The operation of the airlift has a symbolic meaning that breaks the monopoly of prosecution that the prosecution had for more than 70 years after 1948. The police will be able to exercise the right to terminate the investigation from January 1st, allowing some of the prosecution’s investigation authority to be removed. Another member of the legal profession said, “The court decision led to the rehabilitation of President Yoon, but I think he will walk the path of thorns for the remaining six months.”

Reporter Kim Minsang [email protected]