hankyoreh

Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl returns to work on Dec. 1 following a weeklong suspension. (Yonhap News)

Amid continuing lawsuits and debates about the disciplinary proceedings against South Korean Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, the next question is whether the meeting of the prosecutorial disciplinary board at the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), which is scheduled for Dec. 10, following two delays, will be able to reach a conclusion.

Yoon has launched an all-out legal campaign against the proceedings. His legal team has asked the Constitutional Court to review the constitutionality of the Act on Discipline of Prosecutors, which gives the justice minister influence over the composition of the disciplinary board, and to issue an injunction nullifying any action by the disciplinary board until the court reaches a decision on that question.

Most sources connected with the prosecutors consider it unlikely that the Constitutional Court will issue an injunction before the disciplinary board convenes. A search of the court’s website shows that the court has only granted an injunction in two of 206 cases in which petitions for a constitutional review and an injunction have been filed simultaneously over the past 10 years. And even in those two cases, it took the court between three weeks and four months to make a decision.

Yoon’s attorneys are simultaneously preparing for the possibility of the disciplinary board convening by requesting access to the MOJ’s audit records. Although Yoon received the audit records from the MOJ on Dec. 4, he has pressed his attack, claiming that the records omitted a legal review about putting judges under surveillance. Yoon’s attorneys argue that, while the MOJ allowed Yoon to review more than 2,000 pages of audit records, its omission of the legal review about the surveillance of judges — one of the key reasons for bringing disciplinary action against Yoon in the first place — jeopardizes Yoon’s right to a legal defense.

“Under the Act on Discipline of Prosecutors, the individual facing the disciplinary proceedings is only allowed to view sworn affidavits and documents submitted personally, but we have granted [Yoon] permission to view other documents in order to guarantee his right to a legal defense to the broadest extent possible. The legal review with which Yoon’s attorneys have taken issue is an internal report that cannot be made available,” an MOJ official said.

As the tit for tat continues, another controversy has arisen concerning Vice Justice Minister Lee Yong-gu, who is slated to participate in the disciplinary board as an ex officio member. It turns out that Lee, while working as an attorney, provided office space to former Justice Minister Park Sang-ki after he left office. Apparently, this office was used when the MOJ questioned Park about a meeting between Yoon and the owner of a media company, a meeting about which Park was briefed during his time as justice minister.

“When Park Sang-ki was using one of three rooms in Lee Yong-gu’s office, Park had MOJ audit officials visit the room for an interview they had requested. Lee Yong-gu was completely uninvolved in this interview; in fact, he wasn’t even aware that it had occurred,” the MOJ responded.

Yoon’s attorneys plan to petition that Lee be forced to recuse himself from the meeting of the disciplinary board.

Even if the board does meet on Dec. 10, it’s unclear whether it will reach a decision on that same day. Since President Moon Jae-in has emphasized the disciplinary proceedings’ “procedural legitimacy,” some have suggested that the board could hold additional meetings to ensure the fairness of the proceedings.

“Considering that this is the first time that disciplinary action has been brought against the prosecutor general and that administrative lawsuits have been announced, the justice ministry will probably move cautiously through the proceedings,” said a source with the prosecution service.

By Ock Kee-won, staff reporter

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