By Park Yoon-bae
Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl's resignation in early March has prompted speculation about a possible entrance into politics. Many pundits and politicians already believe that it is a fait accompli for him to make his debut as a politician sooner or later.
His abrupt move looked like a bombshell announcement that he would run for president next year, drawing mixed reactions from the political establishment. But still no one knows for sure what Yoon is up to as he has yet to clearly reveal his political ambition.
Many predict Yoon will begin to engage with politics soon after the April 7 mayoral by-elections in Seoul and Busan. Some opposition parties such as the People's Party are trying to woo him to boost their political clout. Yoon has already emerged as a "political bigwig" whether he admits it or not.
He has been widely regarded as one of favored presidential hopefuls. In a survey conducted March 12 to 13 by the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI), Yoon topped the list of best qualified presidential candidates with a 37.2 percent support rate, followed by Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung (24.2 percent) and ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairman Lee Nak-yon (13.3 percent).
There are many reasons to believe that Yoon will soon become a politician, although he has kept mum about the course of his future. The first thing is the timing of his resignation that came March 4.
In an apparent move to foil Yoon's possible presidential bid, Rep. Choe Kang-wook of the minority Open Minjoo Party presented a revision bill to the National Assembly in December. The bill calls for incumbent prosecutors and judges to retire at least a year before any election if they want to become a candidate.
The next presidential poll is scheduled for March 9, 2022. Suppose the bill becomes law. In that case, Yoon might have missed his chance to run for president had he not quit his job before March 9 this year. This shows how shrewd he was in deciding when to resign.
Another reason is the rhetoric he used in his resignation statement. "I am offering to resign as of today," Yoon said. Then he added, "The spirit of the Constitution and the system of rule of law are crumbling. And it will cause damage to the people. It is hard to watch common sense and justice collapsing." He also promised to defend liberal democracy and protect the people whatever position he will be in.
Such remarks were construed as throwing his hat into the political ring. DPK lawmakers lambasted Yoon for trying to take advantage of his career as prosecutor general to gain a political foothold after retirement.
But it is not Yoon, but the Moon Jae-in administration that should be blamed for forcing him to dabble in politics. Yoon had apparently tried to serve out his two-year term set to end July, despite the government's relentless attempts to kick him out of the prosecution.
In fact, Yoon has invited the rage of the powers that be only because he was waging an anti-corruption campaign against President Moon's aides, bureaucrats and ruling party politicians. His conflict with the government began to flare up when he launched an investigation into Cho Kuk, President Moon's confidant and justice minister-nominee, over alleged corruption and admissions fraud involving his family in 2019.
Before that, Moon undoubtedly regarded Yoon as an anti-corruption crusader who played a crucial role in probing and indicting former President Park Geun-hye who was ousted for corruption and abuse of power in March 2017. Yoon was also lauded for digging into a corruption case of another former president, Lee Myung-bak, who was also convicted and imprisoned on graft charges.
That's why Moon appointed Yoon to lead the prosecution in July 2019. At that moment, Yoon was seen as a "hero" who cleaned up what the President called "old evils" of the previous administrations. But Yoon was soon branded as a "turncoat" simply because he targeted the inner circle of political power for bribe-taking, election rigging and influence-peddling.
Yoon's showdown with the government escalated when Moon appointed former DPK Chairwoman Choo Mi-ae as justice minister last year. She was engrossed in blocking the prosecution from digging up dirt on corrupt officials and politicians. She also tried to stop the law enforcement agency from investigating officials who were suspected of manipulating data to shut down the Wolsong-1 reactor under Moon's nuclear phase-out policy.
The row culminated in late 2020 when Choo was desperate to suspend Yoon's duties and take disciplinary action against him for no other reason than continuing his drive against corruption. The government also went all-out to weaken the power of Yoon and the prosecution in the name of prosecutorial reform.
At last, Yoon had to resign to protest the ruling party's push to separate the prosecution's investigative power and indictment right. The Moon administration and the DPK cannot avoid criticism for violating the prosecution's political neutrality and independence, and undermining the rule of law.
Now, we have to figure out why Yoon resigned and what made him set his eyes on politics.
The author (byb@koreatimes.co.kr) is the chief editorial writer of The Korea Times.
 |
His abrupt move looked like a bombshell announcement that he would run for president next year, drawing mixed reactions from the political establishment. But still no one knows for sure what Yoon is up to as he has yet to clearly reveal his political ambition.
Many predict Yoon will begin to engage with politics soon after the April 7 mayoral by-elections in Seoul and Busan. Some opposition parties such as the People's Party are trying to woo him to boost their political clout. Yoon has already emerged as a "political bigwig" whether he admits it or not.
He has been widely regarded as one of favored presidential hopefuls. In a survey conducted March 12 to 13 by the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI), Yoon topped the list of best qualified presidential candidates with a 37.2 percent support rate, followed by Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung (24.2 percent) and ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairman Lee Nak-yon (13.3 percent).
There are many reasons to believe that Yoon will soon become a politician, although he has kept mum about the course of his future. The first thing is the timing of his resignation that came March 4.
In an apparent move to foil Yoon's possible presidential bid, Rep. Choe Kang-wook of the minority Open Minjoo Party presented a revision bill to the National Assembly in December. The bill calls for incumbent prosecutors and judges to retire at least a year before any election if they want to become a candidate.
The next presidential poll is scheduled for March 9, 2022. Suppose the bill becomes law. In that case, Yoon might have missed his chance to run for president had he not quit his job before March 9 this year. This shows how shrewd he was in deciding when to resign.
Another reason is the rhetoric he used in his resignation statement. "I am offering to resign as of today," Yoon said. Then he added, "The spirit of the Constitution and the system of rule of law are crumbling. And it will cause damage to the people. It is hard to watch common sense and justice collapsing." He also promised to defend liberal democracy and protect the people whatever position he will be in.
Such remarks were construed as throwing his hat into the political ring. DPK lawmakers lambasted Yoon for trying to take advantage of his career as prosecutor general to gain a political foothold after retirement.
But it is not Yoon, but the Moon Jae-in administration that should be blamed for forcing him to dabble in politics. Yoon had apparently tried to serve out his two-year term set to end July, despite the government's relentless attempts to kick him out of the prosecution.
In fact, Yoon has invited the rage of the powers that be only because he was waging an anti-corruption campaign against President Moon's aides, bureaucrats and ruling party politicians. His conflict with the government began to flare up when he launched an investigation into Cho Kuk, President Moon's confidant and justice minister-nominee, over alleged corruption and admissions fraud involving his family in 2019.
Before that, Moon undoubtedly regarded Yoon as an anti-corruption crusader who played a crucial role in probing and indicting former President Park Geun-hye who was ousted for corruption and abuse of power in March 2017. Yoon was also lauded for digging into a corruption case of another former president, Lee Myung-bak, who was also convicted and imprisoned on graft charges.
That's why Moon appointed Yoon to lead the prosecution in July 2019. At that moment, Yoon was seen as a "hero" who cleaned up what the President called "old evils" of the previous administrations. But Yoon was soon branded as a "turncoat" simply because he targeted the inner circle of political power for bribe-taking, election rigging and influence-peddling.
Yoon's showdown with the government escalated when Moon appointed former DPK Chairwoman Choo Mi-ae as justice minister last year. She was engrossed in blocking the prosecution from digging up dirt on corrupt officials and politicians. She also tried to stop the law enforcement agency from investigating officials who were suspected of manipulating data to shut down the Wolsong-1 reactor under Moon's nuclear phase-out policy.
The row culminated in late 2020 when Choo was desperate to suspend Yoon's duties and take disciplinary action against him for no other reason than continuing his drive against corruption. The government also went all-out to weaken the power of Yoon and the prosecution in the name of prosecutorial reform.
At last, Yoon had to resign to protest the ruling party's push to separate the prosecution's investigative power and indictment right. The Moon administration and the DPK cannot avoid criticism for violating the prosecution's political neutrality and independence, and undermining the rule of law.
Now, we have to figure out why Yoon resigned and what made him set his eyes on politics.
The author (byb@koreatimes.co.kr) is the chief editorial writer of The Korea Times.
![[ANALYSIS] Pandemic awakens demand for data-driven automation](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/2b05d621a193420abef7ee24b95eab3d.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
