COURT ON DISCIPLINARY ACTION AGAINST YOON

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Presidential hopeful Yoon Seok-youl filed a lawsuit when he was serving as prosecutor general asking the court to invalidate the Justice Ministry’s disciplinary action against him in the form of a two-month suspension. The ruling came out Thursday. The court found the action justified and acknowledged some of the reasons behind it saying that allegations of Yoon’s misconduct were serious enough to undermine the partiality of the prosecution. Yoon’s camp said they will immediately appeal the decision.

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Yoon Seok-youl received a two-month suspension of his duties last December. Imposing the disciplinary action, the Justice Ministry cited allegations of illegal surveillance of judges, intervening in the prosecution's probe into a collusion case involving his close aide, and failure to maintain political neutrality. The former prosecutor general filed a suit asking the court to revoke the suspension. After 10 months, the court ruled the action was justified. Regarding the charge of illegal surveillance, the court said related documents contain information that was found to be collected in violation of law. It pointed out that Yoon had the papers handed to the Supreme Prosecutors Office without having the information deleted or revised. Regarding the collusion case, the court believes Yoon inappropriately intervened in the investigation and thereby infringed on the responsibility to fairly conduct his duties. The court said such misconduct constitutes serious wrongdoing that undermines the legitimacy and fairness of the prosecution. It added that stronger punishment was possible but he received a relatively lighter suspension. However the court did not accept the Justice Ministry’s reason for the disciplinary action against Yoon over failure to maintain political neutrality. Yoon’s camp bristled at the ruling, noting the prosecution had already cleared charges on the illegal surveillance case early this year. On the collusion probe, the presidential hopeful said the court accepted testimonies from select biased prosecutors.

[Soundbite] Son Kyung-sik(Yoon’s lawyer) : "The court has basically ruled the Justice Ministry’s action was appropriate and legitimate. We will review the ruling but appealing the decision appears most likely."

Choo Mi-ae who led the disciplinary action against Yoon while serving as the Justice Minister, also issued a statement saying that prosecutors should never again abuse or privatize their power and authority.