President’s comments are criticized as election interference
President Moon Jae-in slammed top conservative presidential candidate Yoon Seok-youl for labeling his administration “deep-rooted evils” and demanded an official apology from Yoon. The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) responded by saying Moon is trying to intervene in the March 9 presidential election by attacking the conservative camp and boosting the divided liberals.
“I am extremely furious that Yoon labeled the current government a target of investigation without any grounds,” Moon was quoted as saying Thursday by Park Soo-hyun, senior presidential secretary for public communication. “I demand an apology.”
During a JoongAng Ilbo newspaper interview published on Wednesday morning, Yoon said that he will investigate alleged abuse of power and corruption in the Moon administration if he wins the March 9 election. “The current administration used the prosecution and committed many crimes,” Yoon also said. “It must be held accountable.”
“Is Yoon saying that he turned a blind eye to this government’s irregularities when he was serving as head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office and as prosecutor general? Or is he saying he will fabricate charges?” Moon was quoted as saying. “Yoon must answer my question.”
Yoon previously served as South Korea’s prosecutor general. He led investigations into former presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak under the Moon administration’s campaign to eradicate “deep-rooted evils.” He resigned as the top prosecutor in March 2021, protesting Moon’s campaign to weaken the state prosecution service and apparent intervention in the prosecution’s investigations into Moon’s political allies and policies.
Yoon on Thursday dismissed Moon’s demand for an apology, stressing that he will not carry out a political vendetta. “When I am elected, I will not take part in any investigations,” Yoon said in a meeting with reporters Thursday afternoon.
Following Moon’s demand for Yoon’s apology, the PPP cried foul. “It is a clear attempt to intervene in the election,” Chairman Lee Jun-seok of the PPP said in a Facebook post. Lee said Yoon conducted fair investigations into all suspects as a prosecutor, regardless of their political affiliation.
Rep. Lee Yang-soo, a spokesman for Yoon’s election campaign, expressed regret that Moon improperly intervened in the election. “Yoon was just stressing his principle of a fair investigation based on the prosecution’s political neutrality, law and principles, and the criminal justice system,” he said. “The DP first tried to distort his remarks, and now the Blue House and the president are joining the offensive.”
President Moon’ was criticized by those in the legal field for his comment asking “is Yoon saying that he turned a blind eye to this government’s irregularities when he was serving as head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office and as prosecutor general?”
Numerous senior officials from legal circles told the media that it was the presidential Blue House that interrupted investigations into the Ulsan mayoral election and the premature shutdown of the Wolsong nuclear reactor. In the Ulsan mayoral election, Moon’s key ally Song Cheol-ho was elected as Ulsan mayor after the Blue House ordered the police to investigate the conservative candidate and promising Song’s opponent from the same party the consul-general position in Kobe, Japan.
Additionally, it was also revealed that the government altered an economic feasibility study of the Wolsong nuclear power plant to prematurely shut it down in accordance with Moon’s campaign promise. At that time, the prosecution was not able to investigate the shutdown due to conflict with the superior Ministry of Justice. The prosecution was not given enough access to the government officials who were involved in the scheme. It was the Board of Audit and Inspection that announced in its investigation report that the government altered the outcomes of the study and provided it to the prosecution.
It is also true that the Moon administration appointed senior politicians from the DP to head the Ministry of Justice, which oversees the prosecution. Under these political Justice Ministers, Yoon’s key aides were demoted to less important offices and Yoon was not able to mobilize a trusted team to conduct investigations into key officials from the Moon administration.
Many commentators in the media argued that it was President Moon Jae-in who approved a proposal from the Justice Minister calling for the prosecutor general to be excused from his duties for the first time in South Korea’s history. Yoon was excused from duties a day after the prosecution announced that it will request arrest warrants for government officials involved in the Wolsong scandal.
In fact, the relationship between Moon and Yoon was very close during the beginning of the administration. Yoon led the investigations into former Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye while heading the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.
Moon promoted Yoon in July 2019 to prosecutor general, which was shocking since Yoon skipped several ranks. At that time, Moon even called him “Our Prosecutor General Yoon.”
However, the relationship between the two collapsed after the prosecution began an investigation into the family of Justice Minister Cho Kuk, who was the key ally of Moon. After Choo Mi-ae, who was a veteran DP lawmaker, became Justice Minister in January 2020, she demoted the key members of most of the investigation teams that report directly to Yoon.
Some commentators speculated that Moon’s response toward Yoon might be aimed at solidifying the liberal camp ahead of the election as well.
DP candidate Lee Jae-myung is not considered pro-Moon Jae-in in the party. In fact, Moon’s approval ratings maintain or stay above the 40 percent level even now, but Lee’s approval ratings are boxed in at below the 35 percent level. This is why some commentators speculate that Moon is trying to frame the next election as an election between the pan-Moon Jae-in faction and Yoon Seok-youl to solidify liberal voters with just 20 days till the election.
Local pollster Kantar Korea announced Thursday that Yoon was leading Lee by 41.2 percent to 31.3 percent.
Meanwhile, President Moon does not seem able to let go of his final dream of holding another summit with North Korea and declaring an end to the Korean War. During a joint written interview with eight local and global news agencies on Thursday, he said the following.
“The Republic of Korea and the United States have now concurred on the wording of an end-of-war declaration to be presented to North Korea,” Moon said. “Even China supports this declaration. It would be too physically demanding to reach a declaration to end the Korean War before the end of my term. However, I would at least like to make conditions ripe for an end-of-war declaration and pass that on to the next administration.”
He also emphasized the need for another summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
“I don’t think there should be prerequisites for a summit,” Moon said. “However, my time will run out shortly, and the timing of the incoming presidential election and its result may make it inappropriate to hold an inter-Korean summit.”
Conservatives argued that this was yet another controversial comment ahead of the election, since it could make voters believe that a conservative candidate would not be interested in making “peace” with North Korea as Moon did.
