Tag: Choo Mi-ae

As expected Choo Mi-ae was made the scapegoat for the Prosecutor General fiasco even though she was likely taking all commands from the Blue House:

President Moon Jae-in accepted Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae’s previously offered resignation, Wednesday, following a recent court decision that granted an injunction to Prosecutor-General Yoon Seok-youl against a ministry disciplinary committee’s order suspending him from duty for two months. 

Moon’s decision to replace the justice minister comes after months of calls from the public and opposition to dismiss the former five-term lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) who have been weary of the longstanding conflict between her and the top prosecutor. The Choo-Yoon conflict and political wrangling over the President’s push for prosecutorial reform have emerged as key factors that have significantly hurt public trust in the Moon administration. 

The presidential office announced a replacement for Choo, in addition to two other ministerial posts, in a briefing the same day. The President named DPK Rep. Park Beom-kye, a former judge, to replace Choo, who will continue to serve in the post until the confirmation hearing for Park. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but Choo was a good soldier for the Korean left so I am sure they will take care her even though they had to scapegoat her for failing to get Yoon Seok-youl removed.

As expected the Moon administration has suspended the Prosecutor General and are using the Justice Minister as the scapegoat:

 President Moon Jae-in has approved the justice ministry’s decision to suspend South Korea’s top prosecutor from duty for two months, Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday.

The measure against Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl over multiple charges of ethical and legal misdeeds came after the ministry’s disciplinary committee voted to punish him in a marathon session that ended early Wednesday morning.

President Moon approved the decision at 6:30 p.m. after Choo visited his office in the afternoon for a related briefing to the president, according to Chung Man-ho, senior presidential secretary for public communication. The measure immediately went into effect.

Chung, meanwhile, added that Choo has tendered a resignation.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but Choo is just carrying out the Blue House’s orders to get rid of Yoon because he would not cover up corruption occurring in the Moon administration.

Her resignation offer is what her political party was advocating for as cover for Yoon’s suspension. This is all political theater to get Yoon out of the way of the prosecutor reforms the Moon administration is trying to implement as well as stop any further investigation into corruption in the Moon administration. It also side lines Yoon who has been growing in popularity as a presidential candidate due to his stance against corruption in the Moon administration.

Could you imagine what the international media reaction would be if President Trump suspended Robert Mueller during his special counsel investigation into the Trump administration? This is basically what is happening here and I expect it will get little if any international media attention.

Now the Korean left appears to be willing to throw Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae under the bus in order to get rid of Yoon Seok-youl:

With the Choo-Yoon conflicts becoming a political burden on the administration, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, during a meeting with the President, Monday, reportedly said Yoon’s voluntary resignation may be inevitable and also implied Choo’s resignation may also be needed.

The following day Moon had a short, unscheduled meeting with Choo at Cheong Wa Dae.

It was speculated that Moon talked about a “joint resignation” of Choo and Yoon. But the ministry said Choo only reported the current situation to the President and there were no talks about resigning.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but Choo is just carrying out the Blue House’s orders to get rid of Yoon because he would not cover up corruption occurring in the Moon administration. This is the thanks she gets from her own party, be a sacrificial lamb in order to pressure Yoon to resign.

The Moon administration wants everyone to believe that the President did not know anything about the Justice Ministers attempt to oust the Prosecutor General for daring to investigate Blue House corruption:

Moon’s silence is widely seen as supporting Choo’s handling of the conflict with the top prosecutor, who, according to the minister, has not only committed various misdeeds but also violated the political neutrality required of a senior civil servant. Yoon, who has recently emerged as a favorite in polls for potential presidential candidates, has expressed, albeit tacitly, that he would consider a life in politics after his term ends in July next year.

The opposition parties are expressing their anger at the move by Choo, accusing Moon of trying to oust Yoon because he had initiated investigations into corruption allegations involving presidential aides. “The President himself should speak about the lawlessness of the justice minister,” Rep. Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), said in a statement. 

Joo criticized the President for being a coward. “If the President is discontent with the prosecutor general, he should take on the political responsibility and dismiss Yoon. The suspension of the prosecutor is a very regrettable moment in our legal history. The entire administration has been mobilized to oust the prosecutor general for baseless reasons.” 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Since Yoon Seok-youl topped polls as the preferred next President of Korea, the Korean left has gone into overdrive to destroy him:

Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae on Tuesday suspended Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl from his duty, in an unprecedented move amid a feud over prosecution reforms and various investigations involving Yoon’s aide and family members.

“The ministry has been investigating various allegations against the top prosecutor and found out some serious misconduct,” the justice minister said during a briefing.

As reasons to bar him from his duty and seek disciplinary actions, the minister cited what she called an “improper” meeting with media executives, the inspection of judges involved in controversial cases and interference with the prosecution’s investigations to protect people close to him. Also she said Yoon had impeded the ministry’s lawful probe by not responding to recent written investigation inquiries. 

“As the justice minister, who has the utmost authority to oversee the prosecution, I decided that it is not tolerable to let him continue his duty,” Choo said.

Shortly after the surprise announcement, Yoon called it “unfair” and said he would take legal action.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but everyone should not forget that Yoon was appointed by President Moon and has had a falling out with the administration because he would not stop the investigations into Blue House corruption.

Ever since then they have been trying everything they can to get him to resign since he is the only person standing in the way of the Blue House completely taking over the prosecution and thus protecting their political allies.

This response from the leader of the ruling Democratic Party shows that is exactly what this is:

Following the announcement, Rep. Lee Nak-yon, the chief of the ruling Democratic Party, said he was “shocked and disappointed” by the allegations raised against the top prosecutor. Lee urged Yoon to decide his position, apparently pressuring him to step down.

Korea Times

This is the tried and true tactic of throwing allegations at someone and then using the media to trash him in hopes it is enough pressure to get him to resign. We will see if this works with Yoon or not.

It appears that the Korean left is going all in to get Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl resign:

The gaping political rift between Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl widened further Monday, as the minister accused the top prosecutor of overstepping his bounds during a parliamentary audit of the Supreme Prosecutors Office held last week.

“For the prosecutor general who must maintain political neutrality, I believe some of his statements crossed the line. As a person in the supervisory position, I’m embarrassed,” said Choo during a parliamentary audit of the justice ministry held at the National Assembly.

Last week, Choo ordered the top prosecutor to recuse himself from the investigation into the high-profile financial fraud case surrounding Lime Asset Management, citing a failure on the part of Yoon to conduct a thorough investigation into opposition politicians and prosecutors allegedly implicated in the case.

Yoon instantly accepted the order but described it as “illegal” and “absurd” during a parliamentary audit session Thursday. He also claimed that President Moon Jae-in asked him to serve out his term via an “appropriate messenger” despite pressure from the ruling bloc for him to resign.

Yonhap

The article goes on to say how the Justice Minister is expanding her attempts to go after Yoon’s wife:

The prosecution is also currently looking into allegations that Yoon’s wife was involved in manipulating stocks in Deutsch Motors and that her art exhibition company took bribes disguised as donations.

What is incredible about this whole political strife is that President Moon is the one who appointed Yoon as the Prosecutor General to be a fair arbiter of justice. That is exactly what Yoon did when he decided to prosecute Moon’s BFF Cho Kuk for the corrupt activities that him and his family were involved in.

Everything that has been happening since then has been payback to try and get Yoon to resign which he has refused to do. Remember this is not the first time the Moon administration has been willing to go after someone’s wife to get their way.

The Moon administration has been trying to find ways to get Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl to resign since he will not go along with covering for corrupt ruling party politicians. This could be another attempt to pressure him to quit by going after his wife:

Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae ordered the nation’s top prosecutor on Monday to take his hands off the ongoing investigations into a high-profile fund scandal in a move she claims is intended to ensure a “fair” and “independent” probe into those cases.

The unusual order came a day after the justice ministry raised speculation that Prosecutor-General Yoon Seok-youl failed to conduct a thorough investigation into opposition politicians and prosecutors allegedly implicated in the case.

“It is necessary to guarantee a fair and independent investigation into the Lime case and the case involving the prosecutor-general’s family,” Choo said, directing the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office and the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office to not follow Yoon’s orders and only report the results of the investigations to him.

Lime Asset Management Co. is suspected of covering up massive losses and subsequently suspending fund redemption worth an estimated 1.6 trillion won (US$1.39 billion).

Kim Bong-hyun, a key suspect in the case, has alleged that he bribed a former senior aide to President Moon Jae-in, and also lobbied influential opposition politicians and incumbent prosecutors.

“The possibility of the prosecutor-general’s involvement in determining the truth behind the Lime case cannot be completely removed,” Choo said.

The Supreme Prosecutors Office (SPO) responded in a statement that Yoon has “become unable” to orchestrate the investigation into the Lime case.

On the case involving his family, the SPO said Yoon was never involved or briefed on the investigation and therefore had no comment to make.

The prosecution is looking into allegations that Yoon’s wife was involved in manipulating stocks in Deutsch Motors and that her company took bribes disguised as donations.

Choo’s directive calls on the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office to remove a prosecutor and investigator from the team in charge of the Lime case following allegations they were lobbied by Kim.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the people now running the investigation are all allies of Choo Mi-ae, so it is pretty clear how this “investigation” against Yoon’s wife will turn out.

Always remember that Korea is a rule by law country and not a rule of law country.

Here is the latest on the ruling party’s attempt to defend the ROK Justice Minister meddling to receive preferential treatment for her KATUSA son:

In particular, DPK spokesman Rep. Park Sung-joon’s remarks, in which he compared Choo’s son to the late independence fighter Ahn Jung-geun, have brought strong criticism from the opposition and the public. (……….)

Citing Choo’s account, Rep. Park said in a statement, Wednesday, “Choo’s son lived up to what independence fighter Ahn Jung-geun said: ‘it is soldiers’ duty to sacrifice themselves for the country.'” (……….)

Seo served as a member of the Korea Augmentation Troops to the United States Army (KATUSA), a position that Rep. Woo Sang-ho was apparently derogatory about in describing the “easy” duty of such soldiers when he tried to defend Choo against the allegations that she used her influence to have him assigned to an “easier” post.

“Serving as a KATUSA is an easy posting itself, so the dispute is meaningless,” Woo said in a media interview, Sept. 9. “Taking leave or not, or having a post or another ― these are meaningless as a KATUSA.”

His remarks led KATUSA reservists calling for an apology.

Korea Times via a reader tip

You can read more at the link, but KATUSAs demanding an apology for being called out for easy service is mildly amusing. Truthfully it really depends on what unit they end up in. I have seen some KATUSAs who were worked very hard by their U.S. military leadership while others did very little. Overall though being a KATUSA is better duty than being a draftee in a frontline ROK Army unit.

Minister Choo claims she did nothing wrong in regards to seeking favorable treatment for her KATUSA son:

Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae apologized, Sunday, over snowballing allegations that she abused her power to seek special favors for her son during his mandatory military service.

However, Choo denied the allegations in a Facebook post. She said the prosecution, which has been looking into the case, should fear nothing but the people and “be faithful” in uncovering the truth.

“I am deeply sorry for causing troubles to the people over my son’s military duty at a time when COVID-19 is afflicting every part of society,” she wrote.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

No matter how much more his numbers go down I don’t see President Moon replacing Choo Mi-ae because how well she has squashed every scandal against his administration:

The growing allegations surrounding Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae over her son’s military service are beginning to affect the approval ratings for President Moon Jae-in and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), as support for the President and the party has dropped significantly among men and the younger generation.

In a poll of 1,504 adults conducted by Realmeter from Monday to Wednesday, 45.7 percent of the respondents believed Moon was doing a good job, down 2.4 percentage points from a week before, while 49.5 percent disapproved of his job performance, an increase of 1.4 percentage points.

The decline was large among people in their 20s, whose support for Moon dropped by 5.7 percentage points; among men, by 9 percentage points; and among students, 10.7 percentage points.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but the ruling party is trying to claim that Choo’s attempts for favorable treatment for her KATUSA son were just something any concerned parent would do. How many parents in Korea can call up the Defense Ministry and advocate for extended leaves, assignments in Seoul, and requests to be an interpreter at the Winter Olympics?