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South Korean President Moon Jae-in publicly addresses the public regarding his appointment of Justice Minister Cho Kuk from the Blue House on Sept. 9. (Blue House photo pool)
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S. Korean president ultimately places top priority on prosecutorial reform
The biggest factor in President Moon Jae-in’s decision to appoint Cho Kuk as Minister of Justice on Sept. 9 despite heavy controversy, fierce objections from opposition parties, and negative opinion from over half the South Korean public was his commitment to following through on one of the administration’s top priorities in prosecutorial reforms, analysts are concluding. According to this argument, Moon used the absence of any allegations of illegality by Cho himself – even as an investigation of unprecedented scope by prosecutors led to the indictment of his wife – as a basis for pushing ahead with a direct approach. Continued insistence that Cho is “right person for prosecutorial reforms” In introductory remarks following the conferment of certificates of appointment to Cho and five other Cabinet ministers that day, President Moon stressed that “reforms to institutions of power were my most important pledge.” “I have made it clear that I wanted to entrust the completion of that to Minister Cho, who has joined me in devoting himself to and producing results with reforms to institutions of power,” he said. “That commitment cannot be allowed to run aground,” he added. In a highly unusual move, the president delivered a televised statement to the South Korean public while delivering the Cabinet appointment certificates, explaining the reasons for his appointments and appealing for the public’s understanding and support. In his statement, Moon made a personal appeal to the public stressing that Cho was essential for prosecutorial reforms and that the situation was serious enough to require his role. While serving for two years and two months as senior presidential secretary for civil affairs following the Moon administration’s launch, Cho played a leading role in developing a plan for the creation of a new agency to investigate crimes by senior public officials and adjustments to the investigation powers of police and prosecutors. “President Moon has consistently believed that Cho Kuk is the person most suited to undertaking prosecutorial reforms,” a Blue House senior official said. Another Blue House senior official commented, “As a person of principle, it appears that President Moon has ultimately chosen the greatest principle here as his standard, namely reforms to the judiciary and prosecutors.” Prosecutors’ investigation only bolstered decision to proceed with appointment The sweeping investigation by prosecutors – who seemingly pinned their very organization’s fate on it – only appears to have cemented Moon’s conviction that Cho was “the right person.” In other words, the enlistment of numerous special investigation division prosecutors – along with the raids staged at pivotal political moments, the indictment of Cho’s wife just before the end of his confirmation hearing, and the subsequent leaking of allegations – only ended up bolstering Moon’s decision to proceed with the appointment. “President Moon did not think it was a normal state of affairs to have the prosecutors inserting themselves in the political process,” a Blue House senior official said. “As I understand it, his conclusion was that if Cho Kuk was knocked out, prosecutorial reforms would never happen no matter who replaced him,” the official added. President Moon also appears to have reflected on the painful experience of missing an opportunity for prosecutorial reforms during the Roh Moo-hyun administration. The same day, Moon offered his own response to critics questioning whether Cho would be able to function properly as the justice minister after coming under investigation by prosecutors. “If the prosecutors do what they have to do as prosecutors and the minister does what he has to do as justice minister, this will clearly show reforms to institutions of power and the advancement of democracy,” he said. A Blue House senior official said, “Reforms to the judiciary and the prosecutors are Cho Kuk’s responsibility, not [Prosecutor-General] Yoon Seok-yeol’s.” “How can you have the prosecutors reforming the prosecutors?” the official asked, explaining that Moon had “clearly established that institutional reforms are the justice minister’s responsibility, while the prosecutors’ responsibility is investigating.” This also signals his conclusion that an investigation by prosecutors would not deal a decisive blow to Cho’s role as justice minister. Two messages to public prepared over a frantic weekend While sharply divided public opinion was one factor in Moon’s decision to agonize all the way through the weekend – even canceling a meeting of Blue House senior secretaries and aides scheduled for the morning of Sept. 9 – another factor was reportedly the need for time to fully examine the possibility of Cho himself facing punishment. Up until before the weekend, the mood had been in favor of going ahead with the appointment no matter what – but that changed with the prosecutors’ surprise indictment of Cho’s wife. On the afternoon on Sept. 8, Moon reportedly asked State Affairs Planning Room Director Yoon Kun-young to prepare two messages to the public: one confirming Cho’s appointment and the other withdrawing his nomination. In his introductory remarks at the appointment ceremony on Sept. 9, Moon ultimately declared that it would “set a bad precedent not to nominate someone based solely on allegations, when there is no proof of clearly criminal acts that he should be held responsible for.” His message was that his own confirmation was complete. Multiple Blue House sources said that the key concern for Moon was whether there were any allegations of criminal acts by Cho himself, explaining that he reached the conclusion after the hearing and his own meetings that there were no personal issues with Cho that would prevent him from performing his duties. By Seong Yeon-cheol, staff reporter Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
