Moon urges reform at meeting with senior officials

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Moon urges reform at meeting with senior officials

President Moon Jae-in demanded Friday that the prosecution establish an uncompromising system to fight corruption, unshakable even after Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl’s term, in a bid to cooperate with the Justice Ministry to complete a reform.

At an anti-corruption policy meeting with senior officials at the Blue House, Moon presented a list of reform projects that his administration will push forward to improve fairness in society.

In his opening remarks, Moon particularly addressed the reform of the prosecution, one of his most sensitive and controversial campaigns.

The demand for stronger reform in the prosecution was made in the face of Yoon, as he was one of the 33 senior officials who attended the meeting. It is the first time that Moon met with Yoon since the prosecution’s probe into the president’s key ally Cho Kuk and his family, which forced Cho to step down as the justice minister.

“I would like to make a special comment on the prosecutorial reform,” Moon said, stressing that the people are demanding higher standards of democracy, fairness, transparency and human rights from law enforcement authorities.

“The prosecution has made a significant improvement in restoring its political neutrality,” Moon said. “Now, it needs to respond to the next level of reform that the people are demanding.

“To promote fairness, the prosecution’s role has always been crucial,” Moon said. “The task from now on is creating and establishing a fair anti-corruption system that it will not be shaken under any head of the prosecution, no matter who will succeed the job after Prosecutor General Yoon. The prosecutors must complete a flawless system in which they sternly counter corruptions while respecting human rights, democracy and fairness during their investigations and indictments.”

Moon appointed Yoon as prosecutor general in July this year. The prosecutor general’s two-year tenure is guaranteed by law, and Yoon’s term ends in July 2021.

Moon, then, said the prosecutors must actively cooperate with the Justice Ministry to complete the reform.

“Fighting corruption, implementing reform and building a fair society are the administration’s missions,” Moon said. Starting with a series of investigations on the two previous administrations, the administration has made significant accomplishments in reforming powerful law enforcement authorities to fight corruption in the everyday lives of the people, Moon said, adding that the final step to complete the reform is passing a package of bills concerning the prosecutorial reform.

“If the bill to create a new investigative agency for senior public servants and others is passed, we will never face another tragedy such as the abuse of power scandal [by Park Geun-hye],” Moon said.

Moon also presented other anti-corruption goals. He said the deeply-rooted culture of society in which retired senior public servants and judges are given special treatment must be eradicated.

BY SER MYO-JA [ser.myoja@joongang.co.kr]
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