Anchor: A committee that will decide on disciplinary action for Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl will convene next Wednesday. Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae set the date on Thursday and ordered that Yoon or his lawyers be notified to attend the scheduled meeting.
Park Jong-hong has this report.
Report: A disciplinary committee meeting for Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl will be held next Wednesday, just eight days after Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae suspended him from duty over corruption charges levied against him.
Headed by Choo herself, the disciplinary committee comprises seven members, including two prosecutors and a law professor, all hand-picked by the minister.
It could decide to dismiss Yoon or slap him with a temporary suspension, pay cut or reprimand.
Legal observers say the committee is likely to seek to dismiss Yoon, and it is likely the justice minister will make such a recommendation to the president.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday night the prosecutor general filed for an injunction to halt the justice minister's order. The top prosecutor reportedly stressed that the allegations are not true and that the alleged surveillance of judges was significantly distorted. He lodged a formal lawsuit on Thursday to nullify the measure.
This move came in the wake of the justice minister suspending Yoon from duty over six allegations, including interference in sensitive investigations and illegal surveillance of judges.
Responding to these unprecedented developments, prosecutors around the country are up in arms.
All six chiefs of high prosecutors’ offices around the nation pleaded with Minister Choo to rethink her decision. They expressed concerns over perceived risk of political neutrality of the prosecution and argued that the prosecutor general's term should be legally guaranteed as it is designed to protect the prosecution from undue "political interference."
Around 20 mid-level prosecutors said Choo’s decision was unfair and some rank-and-file prosecutors called on Choo to rethink her decision.
Park Jong-hong, KBS World Radio News.