As the time for the upcoming April 15 general elections in South Korea approaches, the covid 19 epidemic dominates the news cycle. Obscured by the ongoing pandemic story is mushrooming scandal involving South Korea's Supreme Prosecutor Yoon-Seok-yeol's family. At the time Jeong Dae-taek was filing complaints against Yoon's mother in law and wife in 2013, Hwang Kyo-ahn was the Minister of Justice in South Korea. Also at that time, the disciplinary committee for prosecutors was chaired by Hwang Kyo-ahn. The significance of this is that Jeong had filed repeated complaints against Yoon for improper interference in his legal proceedings against Yoon's mother in law, Choi. The Disciplinary Committee responded to Jeong's complaints by determining that Yoon would be disciplined by the committee effective December 31, 2013 for one month. It appears that Yoon received a month suspension with loss of pay. At the time, Yoon was the chief of the Yoju prosecutor's office.
Two of the specifications of the disciplinary measure alluded to unauthorized legal actions taken by Yoon, unearthed in connection with a prosecution of illicit activities by the National Intelligence Service (which ultimately resulted in a sentence against the former Director of NIS, Won Se-hoon). The relevant third specification, described in somewhat vague terms, said that Yoon was derelict in his legal duties with respect to estate accounting and reporting in a matter concerning his spouse in a total amount of approximately a half billion won. It is believed by critics that this finding of dereliction was to dispel and dismiss all further inquiry into the possible legal misconduct of Yoon related to the Choi- Jeong litigation which resulted in Jeong's imprisonment. Jeong's sentence and loss of funds in the civil dispute with Yoon's mother in law, Choi, was based upon perjury by a witness who later recanted and claimed his perjury was induced by bribes from Choi, and her daughter, Yoon's wife, Kim Geon-hee.
Further details concerning the injustices done to Mr. Jeong who was the business partner of Ms. Choi, are explained in the previous post below. The former Liberty Party Korea leaders, Hwang Kyo-ahn, and Na Kyung-won are currently in the opposition party, the conservative United Future Party. Hwang is running against democrat Lee Nak-yeon, for the highly prized Jongno district seat for the National Assembly. Both Hwang and his opponent Lee are former prime ministers and likely presidential contenders when the Moon Jae-in administration comes to the end of its term in 2022. When and if Yoon Seok-yeol is driven from his position as the Supreme Prosecutor of South Korea, Hwang, Na, and Yoon, may all become vulnerable to prosecution. The steady drip, drip, drip of accusations against Yoon, his family, and the circumstantial evidence of obstruction by Hwang and Na's husband then a judge at the time, will hurt Hwang's chances in his election campaign for a National Assembly seat. The subject is being avoided by the conservative media. This documentary evidence of impropriety by Yoon as shown by disciplinary records, and the government gazette, was initially reported on Kyeong Jae News on March 20. Inexplicably, the report has been removed from their web site.
Update March 24:
It has been suggested in another youtube video ( 시사건건 March 23)* that the very same Park Hyung-cheol named in the Government Gazette for disciplinary action in the citation (Dec. 31, 2013) with Yoon Seok-yeol, was also a witness against the former Justice Minister Cho Guk, driven from office a few months ago. These were two violations of prosecutorial standards in the matter of the government twit keul scandal (internet trolls commenting in social media) arising out of the National Intelligence Service. It is suggested that Park hitched his career wagon to Yoon at this point. It was alleged that this Park Hyung Cheol later worked in the anti-corruption office in the Moon Blue House and "blew the whistle" on Cho Guk. The similarity in nature of the two family scandals, those in Yoon's family, and Cho's family has already been noted in this blog. In theory, the two politically potent scandals are antipodes in ongoing power stuggle where the driving movitation is immediately to evade prosecution while driving the opposite party out of power in the larger political struggle. Yoon had said in his own behalf while undergoing hearing by the national assembly in respect to appointment as supreme prosecutor, that he bowed to no one, regardless of power in the pursuit of justice. Was this a statement of ethical dedication to justice or the language of arrogance from one approaching the pinnacle of political power?
*조국 전 장관의 무죄가 입증되다 윤석열키즈 박형철의 배신
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IeNU82S4UE
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