The Justice Ministry will announce personnel transfers of middle managers in the Prosecution Service on January 23. If chief prosecutors and directors are replaced on a massive scale, it could intensify the conflict between the Justice Ministry and the Prosecution Service. The public protest at a family funeral of a senior prosecutor at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office on January 18 can be seen as an extension of the conflicts triggered by the latest reshuffle. The photo shows employees of the Prosecution Service beyond the logo of the Prosecution Service at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul on January 20. Kwon Do-hyun

A document stating the charges against former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, prosecuted for suspending an inspection of Yoo Jae-soo, former vice mayor for economic affairs in the city of Busan, specifically states how pro-Moon figures requested the suspension of the inspection.

On January 20, the Kyunghyang Shinmun obtained a document on the charges against the former minister stating the abuse of authority to obstruct the exercise of a right. According to the document, a special inspection team at Cheong Wa Dae uncovered the fact that Yoo had received bribes and entertainment from people in the financial industry in October 2017, when he served as the director of financial policy at the Financial Services Commission. At the time, Yoo sought to retain his position as director through Yun Kun-young, director of national planning at Cheong Wa Dae; Cheon Gyeong-deuk, senior administrator in the human resources team at Cheong Wa Dae; and Kim Kyoung-soo, the governor of Gyeongsangnam-do. He appealed to them saying, “I was not appointed to a suitable position in the conservative government, because of my experience in Cheong Wa Dae during the Participatory Government. It is unfair that I am being subject to an investigation, when I have finally been appointed director.”

Yoo Jae-soo, Yun Kun-young, Kim Kyoung-soo, Cho Kuk (from left)

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According to the document, Yun and Cheon engaged in solicitation after coming in contact with the officials of the Office of the Senior Secretary of Public Relations in Cheong Wa Dae. Governor Kim contacted Baek Won-woo, former secretary for civil affairs, on several occasions and said, “Yoo Jae-soo is a man who struggled with us in the days of the Participatory Government,” and asked the office to be lenient, since Yoo “thinks the current inspection is not just.” The inspection team discovered that the governor had received reports on the inspection from Baek and conveyed them to Yoo.

According to the document, Yun told Baek, “Yoo Jae-soo was a man who served as a Cheong Wa Dae official during the Participatory Government and is a close acquaintance of mine.” Cheon also asked the chief of the special inspection, “Why are you inspecting Yoo jae-soo, who also served in the Participatory Government?” and argued that the inspection was unfair claiming, “If Cheong Wa Dae is to control the financial sector, we need people like Yoo Jae-soo.”

The Prosecution Service believes that the former justice minister received at least four written reports and that he should have taken measures to ensure adequate punishment and criminal action. According to the document, Baek, who was asked to help Yoo, suggested “leniency for Yoo Jae-soo” when speaking to Park Hyoung-chul, former Cheong Wa Dae secretary for anti-corruption, but Park refused. In December 2017, former Minister Cho told Park, “Yoo Jae-soo says he will resign, so there is no need to continue the inspection,” when Park suggested that they either continue the inspection or request an investigation of the former vice mayor.

The second preliminary hearing on Yoo was held at the Seoul Eastern District Court (Chief judge Son Ju-cheol). Yoo’s legal representative partially acknowledged that Yoo had received gifts, but argued that they could not be defined as a bribe, because they were not received in exchange for job-related favors. They denied any relevance to Yoo’s tasks saying, “The details concerning the specific tasks overseen by former vice mayor Yoo in the Financial Services Commission (stated in the document on charges) and the details on the tasks of the Financial Services Commission, which supposedly has ‘mighty influence,’ are too obscure.” In other words, they argued that Yoo did not have the power to personally exercise the stated authority.

Prosecutors believe Yoo asked Choi, the president of an asset management firm, to hire his younger brother and in exchange worked to have the chairman of the Financial Services Commission award Choi’s firm with a commendation. Yoo’s lawyers said, “They simply asked officials from inside the Commission to recommend additional candidates.”

As for the allegations that A, a financial insider, gave Yoo’s children 500,000 won each and that another insider, B purchased and distributed over 140 copies of a book written by Yoo, his lawyers said, “Basically, such exchanges were made based on a personal relationship.” The lawyers also denied the allegation that Yoo had a third party pay for a studio apartment in Gangnam and that he used a luxurious golftel (golf course and hotel) for free. His lawyers said, “He never stayed at the studio apartment, and even if he did, we cannot acknowledge any connection with his job or any condition that it was in exchange for some favor.” In the case of the golftel, the lawyers said that Yoo only used it for a few hours one day, instead of the fourteen times stated in the document.

As for the alleged bribe of nearly 2 million won for the purchase of flight tickets by B, Yoo’s lawyers said, “We cannot admit that it has any relevance to Yoo’s work, but we do acknowledge that it was a violation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act.” They argued that the seven-year statute of limitations had passed on the charges that Yoo borrowed 250 million won at zero interest to purchase an apartment in Gangnam, Seoul and later failed to pay back 10 million won.

Prosecutors said, “That the gifts had no relevance to his tasks and were not received in exchange for any favors was an argument he stated during the questioning before his arrest,” and added, “We will clearly explain the details in future trial proceedings.” The first trial, when the key witnesses will be called to testify, is scheduled for February 3.

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