OPPOSITION OF JM EXERCISING COMMAND AUTHORITY

[Anchor Lead]

Senior prosecutors are opposed to Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae's exercise of command authority over an ongoing investigation into alleged collusion between prosecutors and the news media. They view the move as being unjust. Prosecutor-General Yoon Seok-youl was also briefed on what was discussed during the recent meeting of senior prosecutors but he has yet to issue a response.

[Pkg]

​"Excluding the chief prosecutor's command authority is illegal and unfair." This is the summary of views gathered from a meeting of senior prosecutors in regards to developments unfolding between the prosecutor general and the justice minister. Prosecutors view Choo Mi-ae’s decision to command an investigation into an alleged collusion case as inappropriate. They believe her order to only report the results of the investigation to the top prosecutor effectively calls for suspending his duty. They also agreed on the need to introduce an independent counsel for a fair and thorough investigation into the so-called prosecution-press collusion case, and also to suspend an expert advisory panel review that was under way. This opinion disregards the justice minister's earlier statement. Choo had said introducing an independent counsel was too late and also goes against her order. Senior prosecutors also argued that the case in point should be unrelated to Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl's future. This is viewed as an effort to prevent any disputes from arising in the case Yoon does not accept Choo's command authority over the collusion case. Such results of the senior prosecutors meeting was relayed to Yoon on Monday. However defying expectations, Yoon has yet to issue a response. Instead, he has been collecting outside opinions. It's likely the top prosecutor will suspend proceedings of the expert advisory panel which his peers have also called for. But observers predict he is expected to explain the unfairness of the justice mister's order to back off from the investigation and request back his command authority. In this case, Yoon could be subject to disciplinary procedures, due to disobeying Choo's order. The justice ministry said it has nothing to say regarding the senior prosecutors meeting as long as there is no official response from Yoon himself.