The Ministry of Justice has effectively extended the suspension of Park Sang-yong, a deputy chief prosecutor at the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office, indefinitely. Following a request for disciplinary action from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, additional investigations by the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office are underway, raising expectations for a potential increase in the severity of the disciplinary measures.
According to legal sources on May 29, the Ministry of Justice sent a formal notice to the prosecution the previous day, stating that Park's suspension would continue from June 6 until further notice.
Park has been suspended since April 6. At that time, acting Prosecutor General Ku Ja-hyun requested the suspension from Justice Minister Jeong Seong-ho, which the Ministry accepted for a maximum of two months. The initial suspension was set to expire on June 5.
The Ministry's decision was reportedly made under Article 8, Section 2 of the Prosecutor Disciplinary Act, which allows the Justice Minister to order a suspension if deemed necessary for a disciplinary investigation.
Previously, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office sought disciplinary action against Park after a review by its inspection committee. It was determined that Park had improperly demanded a confession through the attorney of Lee Hwa-young, the former Vice Governor of Gyeonggi Province, during the investigation into the Ssangbangwool North Korea remittance case. He was also accused of failing to document the investigation process and providing external food to a suspect.
In response, Park has reportedly stated that some of the grounds for his disciplinary action are inaccurate.
An independent investigation into Park is ongoing. The Incheon District Prosecutors' Office is examining whether Park violated his political neutrality by refusing to take an oath as a witness during a parliamentary hearing in April and attending a discussion hosted solely by the People Power Party while under suspension.
Justice Minister Jeong Seong-ho commented after casting his vote in the early voting for the 9th nationwide local elections in Gyeonggi Province on the same day, saying, "We will proceed carefully after reviewing the results of the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office's investigation. We are also reviewing the records submitted by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and conducting related inspections."
The Ministry of Justice is expected to convene a Prosecutor Disciplinary Committee to determine the final disciplinary measures for Park after a comprehensive review of the records from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and the findings from the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office's investigation.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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