Moon vows to institute reforms to government authority

South Korean President Moon Jae-in heads to a meeting room with Choo Mi-ae after certifying her as the new justice minister at the Blue House on Jan. 2. (Blue House photo pool)

S. Korean president makes New Year’s promises to overhaul prosecutors

South Korean President Moon Jae-in heads to a meeting room with Choo Mi-ae after certifying her as the new justice minister at the Blue House on Jan. 2. (Blue House photo pool)

South Korean President Moon Jae-in shared a New Year’s message declaring that “no institutional authority exists above the people,” stressing that he would “not stop pursuing legal and institutional reforms until institutions of authority are trusted by the people.” Moon also vowed to “do everything in my power according to the Constitution as a President elected by the people.”

During a New Year’s joint event at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) in Seoul’s Jung (Central) District on Feb. 3, Moon vowed to work to reform institutional authority and form a fair society, pledging to “achieve more definite change in the new year.”

During the event, Moon expressed his “hope that institutions of authority will lead the way in reforming themselves.”

“I will also do everything in my power according to the Constitution as a President elected by the people,” he added. His message was taken as signaling plans to actively exercise his Constitutionally granted powers to direct appointments and duties to overcome objections from prosecutors to the creation of a new agency for investigating crimes by senior officials and adjustments to the investigation powers of the police and prosecutors. Prosecutor-General Yoon Seok-yeol was among the attendees hearing Moon’s message at the meeting.

“He’s saying that he will be exercising presidential authority, including appointment powers, in the event that prosecutors fail to reform themselves and obstruct the senior official investigation agency or the changes to the prosecutors’ and police’s investigation powers,” a Blue House senior official explained.

When asked whether Moon’s message about “doing everything in his power according to the Constitution” meant that he would be exercising appointment authority, another key official said, “He’s not limiting it [to that].”

Moon appoints Choo Mi-ae as Justice Minister

At 7 am that same day, Moon approved the appointment of Choo Mi-ae as Minister of Justice. While granting her a certificate of appointment that afternoon, he stated his more concrete aims.

“I believe the start of prosecutorial reforms come through innovative changes to investigation practices and methods, as well as the organizational culture,” he said. His remarks signaled his plans to strike while the proverbial iron is hot by pushing hard for prosecutorial reforms after the National Assembly’s passage of legislation establishing the agency for investigating crimes by senior officials. The National Assembly is also ahead of its vote on an additional bill adjusting the prosecutors’ and police’s investigation powers.

In a subsequent conversation with Choo, Moon encouraged her to approach her position with a sense of duty.

“This sort of opportunity is unlikely to come again. You’re taking on a very important role at a very important time,” he told her.

“The legal and institutional reform efforts of establishing a senior official investigation agency and adjusting prosecutor and police investigation powers in keeping with the public’s hopes have been a very difficult process,” he also said.

“The same amount of effort needed for the legislation process is going to need to effectively establish the new system and get it running properly now the legislation part is over,” he added.

Moon also made it clear that Choo would be acquiring the necessary stature and authority for prosecutorial reforms.

“With the legal regulations stipulating that the Minister of Justice is the final oversight authority for prosecutorial duties, I hope that you will be appropriately directing prosecutorial reform efforts in the spirit of those regulations,” he told her.

Choo stresses importance of human rights

Responding to Moon’s remarks, Choo stressed the importance of “respect for human rights in prosecutors’ investigation.”

“A skilled physician is not one who cuts into a patient several times with a scalpel to remove the source of disease. It’s one who makes an accurate diagnosis and properly removes the diseased part,” she said.

“Prosecutors hold authority for investigations and indictments, and they do not win trust when they just poke away to get the result they want while ignoring human rights. The role of the prosecutors’ is to accurately assess the crime and punish it duly while respecting human rights,” she continued, in a message read as a reference to the “dirt-digging” tactics used by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office in an investigation of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk and his family and acquaintances last year.

Moon’s appointment of Choo as Minister of Justice came just three days after her National Assembly confirmation hearing came to an end on Dec. 30, and seven hours after the resubmission deadline assigned to the National Assembly. Choo’s first official event for the new year was a visit in the morning to pay respects at the National Cemetery, and a place for her also provided at the joint New Year’s greeting event at 11 am, which brought together major administration figures and officials. The schedule was seen as an expression of intent to quickly end the more than 80-day-long vacuum left by Cho Kuk’s resignation as Justice Minister last October.

“If the prosecutor and police investigation power legislation passes the National Assembly around Jan. 3 or 6, the justice minister will have a lot of duties to implement at the working level, including amendment of the enforcement decree,” another Blue House senior official said by way of explaining the swift appointment push.

“There are also six empty seats at the level of high prosecutors’ office chief right now that will need to be filled,” the official added.

By Lee Wan and Seong Yeon-cheol, staff reporters

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