Two high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Justice and the prosecution are to be removed from office following an internal probe of their dubious cash offerings to underlings.
A joint inspection team, comprising officials from the Justice Ministry and the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, asked their respective organizations for the disciplinary dismissals of Lee Young-ryeol, former chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, and Ahn Tae-geun, ex-deputy minister for criminal affairs, for their ethical lapses.
Lee Young-ryeol (left), former chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors` Office, and Ahn Tae-geun (right), ex-deputy minister at the Ministry of Justice (Yonhap)
“(Based on the findings,) acting Prosecutor General Bong Wook has formally requested the Ministry of Justice that former chief of Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office Lee Yeong-ryeol and Justice Ministry senior official Ahn Tae-geun be removed from office,” said an official from the audit team at a press briefing.
In late April, Lee and Ahn gave cash to subordinates who took part in the investigation into a high-profile scandal that led to the ouster of former President Park Geun-hye.
As for Lee, the audit team has decided to ask the prosecution to look into a suspected violation of the anti-graft law, the official added.
The announcement came about three weeks after President Moon Jae-in ordered a probe, one of his first directives as the nation’s chief since taking office on May 10.
The exchanging of cash bonuses between the two heads and their officials occurred on March 21 at a dinner table, just four days after Lee’s special investigation team closed up a political corruption scandal of former President Park and her key aide Woo Byung-woo.
The prosecution indicted the hugely unpopular Park on 18 charges in mid-April, but was criticized for being soft on Woo, a former prosecutor who held sway over law enforcement authorities during his stint at the Cheong Wa Dae.
At the table, Lee and Ahn gave envelopes each containing between 700,000 won ($617) and 1 million won to the other’s subordinates, including the special probe team’s investigators present.
The audit team concluded that Lee’s cash offering to the upper government body’s officials was against the country’s anti-graft law, which bans civil servants and other professions from giving or receiving certain amounts of money if there is a potential conflict of interest.
Ahn is also suspected of exchanging telephone calls with Woo last year, as he allegedly tried to hinder the prosecution’s investigation into the 2014 sinking of the Sewol ferry.
The two offered to step down last month upon the revelation of the cash scandal by local media outlets, but were demoted and transferred to local areas due to the ongoing audit.
Apart from the audit, President Moon named reformist prosecutor Yoon Seok-yeol, who played a key role in the now disbanded independent counsel team to investigate the Park scandal, as the new chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, amid sour sentiment toward the country‘s most powerful law enforcement agencies.
The Ministry of Justice and prosecution have drawn criticism for remaining in favor of the government and lenient in investigating Park’s corruption scandal.
With Wednesday’s result of the internal investigation, the Justice Ministry’s 10-member audit committee will soon decide whether to follow its suggestion.
By Bak Se-hwan (sh@heraldcorp.cpom)