DISCIPLINARY PANEL SUSPENDS YOON FROM DUTY

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Yoon Seok-youl has become the first incumbent prosecutor general to be punished in Korea’s constitutional history. After an overnight discussion, the justice ministry’s disciplinary committee decided to slap him with a two-month suspension. The disciplinary panel found Yoon accountable for four out of six counts of legal misconduct.

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The justice ministry’s disciplinary committee decided to suspend Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl for two months. Last month, Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae had given six reasons for requesting disciplinary action against Yoon. The panel found the chief prosecutor guilty of four allegations; illegal surveillance of judges, interference with internal inspection and investigation on illicit ties between the prosecution and the media, and inappropriate actions violating political neutrality. The panel, however, decided not to penalize him for meeting with a media mogul and refusing internal inspections, citing those allegations were too weak to warrant disciplinary actions. The panel also acquitted him of leaking information on a journalism ethics violation case and interfering with the probe of former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook. The committee stated that the decisions were based on evidence and asked for the public’s understanding even if they don’t agree. The meeting started at 10:30 am Tuesday and ended 17 hours later. Deliberation and voting started around 9:00 pm after witness testimonies went on longer than expected, causing the session to past midnight. Acting chief of the committee Jung Han-joong said there were many diverse opinions regarding the level of disciplinary actions, from dismissal to suspension, that it took a long time to reach a majority required to impose a penalty. He also explained that the panel decided not to hold any more hearings and to go ahead with a vote because it wasn’t right to drag out such a shameful incident during the pandemic. Once Yoon is suspended from duty, Deputy Prosecutor General Cho Nam-kwan will serve as the acting head of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office.