Park Bum-gye's 'worries'... "Restoration of the Prosecutor General's Investigative Command"
There is a schedule that legal reporters usually take care of.
One of them is Justice Minister Park Beom-gye's commute to and from work.
Minister Park, a former politician, has often talked to reporters on the way to and from work.
In particular, after the presidential election, as the justice minister of the current government, he expressed his opinions without adding or subtracting, such as setting up a conflicting angle with the next government's judicial promises.
For this reason, reporters also kept Minister Park's way to work on Thursday (31st) last week.
However, Minister Park's words on this day were unusually short and unkind.
But he was so meaningful that it was difficult to pass it up.
"I won't take any questions today. I'm thinking about something else."
The reality of Minister Park's 'separately' thinking was revealed in a media report in the afternoon.
It was said that Minister Park was trying to restore the prosecutor-general's investigation command authority, which was suspended by then- Attorney General Chu Mi-ae when the former president-elect Yoon Seok-yeol was the prosecutor-general.
Last year, former Minister Choo Mi-ae twice exercised her authority to lead the investigation, excluding then-President Yoon from leading some cases.
Six cases are targeted, including the allegation of manipulation of Deutsche Motors stock prices in which Kim Kun-hee, the wife of President-elect Yoon, is allegedly implicated, and the alleged attempted coercion of a Channel A reporter involving Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon.
The state of deprivation of the prosecutor-general's investigative command in these cases has extended to the current president, Kim Oh-soo.
As a result, President Kim has not received any reports from the investigation team regarding the incidents.
"A ceremony to clear the charges against Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon?"... Park Bum-gye's 'frustration'
The ripples arose over the allegation of attempted coercion of a Channel A reporter.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office has been investigating the case since April 2020, claiming that former Channel A reporter Lee Dong-jae and Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon colluded and forced Lee Cheol, the major shareholder of Shillajen, to disclose passport information.
The former reporter, who was first indicted, was acquitted in the first trial last year, but the investigation into another suspect, the chief prosecutor, has not been completed.
Regarding this, the 1st Criminal Investigation Team has offered an opinion that the investigation team will be acquitted, but it is known that the command has rejected this. analysis has emerged.
(The Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office is currently in the position that 'there was no formal report requesting payment.') It is known that concerns such as 'abuse of power' have arisen within the Prosecutor's Office of the Justice Department, and the Supreme Prosecutor's Office, who was told that there was no prior consultation, was turned upside down.
Late in the afternoon, the Ministry of Justice officially announced, "There is a fear of misunderstandings, so we have stopped discussing the restoration of the president's investigative authority."
And Minister Park was furious when he met reporters again on the way home from work.
Minister Park said, "(Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon) was really surprised that he was writing [the article] as if he had considered it for the sake of only one person."
"We couldn't review it before the election because it could affect the election in any way," Park said.
Regarding the known voices of concern within the Ministry of Justice, Minister Park said, "There was no disagreement," but said, "As a lawyer, I thought it reasonably well."
Why now?... "It's like giving strength to the promise to abolish the investigative command."
Although the prosecutor general has changed, the incumbent president is still unable to receive a report on the investigation.
Minister Park explained that this situation is abnormal and that the minister tried to restore it to its original state through the investigation and supervision of the minister.
As he said, it may be a measure to normalize abnormalities that do not target a specific case and a specific person, and excludes the prosecutor general's investigative command.
The problem is the 'time point'.
Minister Park assumed the post of Justice Minister following Choo in February last year.
14 months have already passed.
It was in June last year that then-President Yoon Seok-yeol, who was another party to the exclusion of the Prosecutor General's investigation command authority, resigned and Prosecutor General Oh-su Kim took office.
Even 11 months have passed.
One deputy chief prosecutor said, "I have the question, 'Why are you here now?'"
Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee said, "Even if it is not a case of Kim Oh-soo's family or aide, he has been excluding the president's investigation and command, and now I don't know why he is suddenly trying to save him. It's the same as not standing there," he said.
Prosecutor-level prosecutors also pointed out, "Restoring the investigation command is something that Minister Park should have done earlier."
Another deputy chief prosecutor said, "Minister Park herself is only providing justification for Yoon-elect's promise to abolish the power of investigation."
Meanwhile, on the 3rd, the civil group Law Seryun said, "We cannot rule out the possibility that Seoul Central Prosecutor's Office Chief Lee Jung-soo, who received a report of acquittal from Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon, delayed the approval of the case and conspired with Minister Park not to dispose of it, so an investigation is necessary." The Minister and the Chief of the Prosecutor's Office filed a complaint with the Supreme Prosecutor's Office.
(Photo = Yonhap News)