Trade minister from previous government in the cross-hairs

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Trade minister from previous government in the cross-hairs

Paik Un-gyu, who served as former President Moon Jae-in’s first minister of trade, industry and energy, walks into a court in Daejeon on June 7 to attend a trial related to the closure of a nuclear reactor. [NEWS1]

Paik Un-gyu, who served as former President Moon Jae-in’s first minister of trade, industry and energy, walks into a court in Daejeon on June 7 to attend a trial related to the closure of a nuclear reactor. [NEWS1]

Prosecutors are zeroing in on Paik Un-gyu, former minister of trade, industry and energy, on suspicions that he pressured heads of public organizations affiliated with the ministry to resign at the start of the Moon Jae-in administration.
 
A big question is whether former President Moon was involved in Paik’s alleged pressure – and whether the probe of Paik will lead to a broader crackdown on Moon and his allies.
 
Prosecutors investigating the case believe that Paik, who began as Moon’s trade minister in July 2017, two months after Moon was inaugurated, forced the heads of the public organizations to step down because they were appointed by the preceding conservative Park Geun-hye administration.
 
Ministers mostly hold the legal authority to appoint the chiefs of public organizations affiliated with their ministries – or formally offer recommendations to the president – but prosecutors say forcing them to leave before their terms officially end without a just reason amounts to abuse of power.
 
Prosecutors at the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office announced that they filed a detention warrant for Paik last Monday, four days after they summoned him for questioning. Paik was grilled for about 14 hours last Thursday.
 
A court on Wednesday morning will review the detention warrant request.
 
On May 19, prosecutors raided six locations including Paik’s house and office to search for evidence, later telling reporters that they got hold of emails Paik exchanged with his colleagues at the ministry.
 
Other high-level officials who worked with Paik at the ministry, including former Vice Minister Lee In-ho, have been summoned for questioning.
 
Apart from allegedly forcing the public organization chiefs to step down, prosecutors say they believe Paik "unfairly supported" a certain candidate for the head position of one organization to receive high marks in the screening process. 
 
A prosecutor who spoke with the JoongAng Ilbo on the condition of anonymity said that the Paik probe would likely gain momentum if the court greenlights the detention warrant for the former trade minister.
 
The probe could set off a domino effect, the prosecutor said, prompting the investigation of other ministers from the Moon administration.
 
Paik has denied all allegations against him, saying he worked in accordance to the law.
 
Moon’s Democratic Party criticized the warrant request, saying the Yoon government was launching a “political revenge” on its predecessor.
 
The Paik probe dates to 2019, while Moon was still in office. The Liberty Korea Party, the predecessor of Yoon’s People Power Party, accused Paik of forcing the resignations and requested prosecutors to look into the case.
 
But the probe went nowhere for three years.
 
Prosecutors weren’t serious about the case until February, when the Supreme Court confirmed a two-year prison term for Moon’s former environment minister on similar charges.
 
Prosecutors raided the Trade Ministry in March, signaling the start of the Paik investigation. 

BY LEE SUNG-EUN, CHAE HYE-SEON [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]
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