The judgment of the first trial court is coming out today (14th) as to whether the disciplinary action of two months of suspension issued by the then Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae to former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol last year was justified.



Seoul Administrative Court 12th Administrative Division Chief Judge Yong-seok Jeong gives the first trial judgment on the lawsuit filed by former President Yoon against the Minister of Justice at 2 pm today.



In December of last year, when former Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae was in office, Yoon received a two-month suspension from the Ministry of Justice.



The Ministry of Justice requested disciplinary action and provided six reasons.



The Prosecutor's Disciplinary Committee of the Ministry of Justice acknowledged four allegations of misconduct: ▲Writing and distributing documents suspected of inspection by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in the Office of Investigation and Information Policy in Major Cases ▲Interfering with the Inspection of the Channel A Case ▲Interfering with the Channel A Case Investigation ▲The Destruction of Political Neutrality as a Prosecutor.



In response, former President Yoon filed a lawsuit with the court for suspension of execution and the merits, saying, "The grounds for disciplinary action do not match the facts and the disciplinary procedure is illegal and unfair." .



Among the four reasons for disciplinary action, the court tentatively determined that while the reasons for writing and distributing documents suspected of inspection by the court and interfering with the inspection of the Channel A case were recognized, the interference with the investigation of the Channel A case and violation of political neutrality were hardly grounds for disciplinary action.



In particular, the court ruled that the disciplinary decision itself was invalid because there was a clear flaw in the decision process to evade the disciplinary committee that President Yoon applied to the disciplinary committee.



It is observed that it is difficult to predict the outcome of the trial on the merits, scheduled for this afternoon, as the intensive hearing has been conducted for nearly a year.



If former President Yoon loses, it will be difficult to avoid political criticism as a presidential candidate. Conversely, if he wins, he will lose the real benefit of the judgment itself, restore his honor as the then prosecutor-general, and acknowledge that there was a procedural problem in the disposition of the Ministry of Justice.



(Photo = Yonhap News)