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| Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae heads to a Legislation and Judiciary Committee meeting at the National Assembly, Thursday. Yonhap |
By Lee Suh-yoon
Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae's decision to reassign chief prosecutors who were leading investigations into President Moon Jae-in's aides is being called "political revenge" by members of the prosecution and the legal community.
"The Moon administration is sending us a very clear sign: don't mess with the ruling authority," a prosecutor at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office told The Korea Times on the condition of anonymity. "The replacing of head prosecutors breaks down the original chain of command. The new leadership will surely bring changes in the direction of ongoing investigations."
Choo, a former judge and ruling party chairwoman, was appointed by President Moon Jae-in after her predecessor Cho Kuk resigned due to a family-related corruption scandal uncovered by the prosecution. She demoted Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol's chief aides ― sometimes called the "Yoon Seok-yeol kids" by local media ― to posts at regional branch offices.
Han Dong-hoon, Yoon's right hand man, has been stripped of his role as the head of the Supreme Prosecutor's Office anti-corruption department and been posted as the No. 2 at the High Prosecutors Office in Busan. Han led the probe into the Cho scandal and his alleged role in suppressing a bribery investigation into a former Busan vice mayor. His post will be filled by Prosecutor Shim Jae-chul, who was a PR officer for a justice ministry task force that prepared Choo for her confirmation hearing.
Similarly, Prosecutor Park Chan-ho, who was investigating allegations the presidential office helped Moon's friend win the mayoral election in Ulsan, was dispatched to an office on Jeju Island.
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| President Moon Jae-in and Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae at Cheong Wa Dae after Choo's appointment ceremony, Jan. 2 / Joint Press Corps |
A total of 32 senior prosecutors were reassigned.
"Clearly, the administration is trying to make Prosecutor General Yoon drop out of the game," lawyer Park Young-gwan, an ex-prosecutor and former chief of Jeju District Prosecutors' Office, said in a phone interview.
Critics say the move is political revenge aimed at forcing the resignation of Yoon. The prosecutor general was appointed by President Moon last July to lead prosecutorial reform from the inside but fell out with the administration amid the launch of the investigation into former Justice Minister Cho.
Some drew parallels to a similar controversy in 2013 under the now-jailed ex-President Park Geun-hye, which Moon's party severely criticized back then. Yoon Seok-yeol, then a special prosecutor, was barred from the investigation into the National Intelligence Agency's online election rigging practices for "not following orders" by getting an arrest warrant for a NIA employee.
There is also concern that Choo may have bypassed proper procedures by not consulting with Yoon about the personnel reassignments. Article 34 of the Prosecutors' Office Law states the justice minister must also take into account the prosecutor-general's opinion before making personnel decisions.
Cheong Wa Dae denied allegations that the personnel overhaul was "a show of non-confidence" in Yoon during a meeting with reporters on Thursday.
