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Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl and Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae. (photo pool)

Lee Ok-hyeong, an attorney representing the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) in its case requesting Yoon Seok-youl’s suspension from his duties as prosecutor general, said that the “prosecutors’ organized expression of opinion had achieved its purpose” with a Dec. 1 decision by the Seoul Administrative Court under judge Cho Mi-yeon, adding that the court had “overlooked this.”

In a statement distributed to reporters on the afternoon of Dec. 2, Lee voiced concerns that “confusion among the administration and prosecutors and divisions among the public could end up exacerbated as a result of the court’s ruling.”

“The court cited concerns that suspending [the prosecutor general] from his duties would disrupt the work of public servants in the prosecution service. But that judgment is incorrect, since it mistakenly implies that those public servants are influenced by the attitude of the prosecutor general when they are quietly going about their duties,” Lee said.

Lee also criticized the court for ruling that suspending Yoon from his duties caused “irreparable harm” and that allowing such a suspension to continue would equate to his dismissal.

“That argument could be interpreted to mean that the prosecutor general or any other organizational head cannot be suspended from their duties under any circumstances whatsoever. That clashes with the fact that former Presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye were in fact suspended from their duties for several months after the National Assembly passed a bill of impeachment,” the attorney said.

“That leads us to the bizarre conclusion that ’irreparable harm’ is always present whenever a sitting prosecutor general is suspended from his duties and that ultimately the justice minister cannot suspend the prosecutor general in any case,” Lee went on to argue.

“All public servants who have been referred to the disciplinary board and are awaiting reassignment have suffered the same loss of wages, honor and right to hold public office claimed by the petitioner [that is, Yoon] in this case. According to the court’s logic, an injunction would have to be given to all public servants facing disciplinary measures, [even those] on the verge of retirement,” Lee said in his rebuttal.

By Shin Min-jung, staff reporter

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