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Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl in front of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in Seoul. (Yonhap News)

The Ministry of Justice’s disciplinary committee has decided on a two-month suspension for Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl. After convening Dec. 15 to discuss disciplinary action against Yoon, the committee concluded deliberations after hearing testimony from five witnesses, and decided on the penalty on Dec. 16.

The committee consisted of chair and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies professor Jeong Han-jung, committee member and Chonnam National University professor Ahn Jin, Vice Minister of Justice Lee Yong-gu, and head of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office’s Anti-Corruption Force Shin Seong-sik. Discussion of the disciplinary action to be taken against Yoon concluded after seven hours.

The committee accepted four of the grounds on which disciplinary action was sought: writing and distributing court documents for major cases, obstructing inspections related to the “Channel A” incident, obstructing investigations related to the “Channel A” incident, and loss of prestige from inappropriate words and actions pertaining to political neutrality.

As for the allegations regarding inappropriate exchanges with the owner of a media company and the failure to comply with investigations, the committee stated, “While grounds for disciplinary action exist, we decided to overlook them in accordance with the Act on Discipline of Prosecutors as we recognize it is appropriate to treat such matters as not warranting disciplinary action.”

Regarding the grounds of leaking information related to inspections of the Channel A incident obstructing inspections related to the incident involving former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook, the committee “decided to drop the charges due to a lack of evidence.”

On Dec. 15 at the Ministry of Justice in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, the committee examined witnesses in relation to documents related to the surveillance of judges and their political leanings. The committee then reached a final decision at 4 am on Dec. 16 after discussing the matter late into the night.

“There were differences of opinion on weighing the offense, so we continued discussing the matter until agreement was reached,” committee chair Jeong Han-jung told the press after the meeting concluded. “We began with [the suggestion of] dismissal, and discussed it for a long time. There were several different views, but as soon as we reached a majority, we decided on a penalty that is favorable to General Prosecutor Yoon.”

The disciplinary action against Yoon was requested by Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae and carried out with the approval of President Moon Jae-in.

By Ock Kee-won, staff reporter

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