The Ministry of Justice will hold a Prosecutor Disciplinary Committee on the afternoon of September 16 to deliberate on whether to discipline two Suwon District Prosecutors who walked out of a courtroom after filing a motion to recuse the judge during the trial over the alleged "drinking party and perjury" involving former Gyeonggi Province Vice Governor for Peace Lee Hwa-young.

The Ministry plans to review the disciplinary request agenda for the two prosecutors who previously served as the head of Criminal Division 6 at the Suwon District Office.

Previously, on August 14, then-Minister of Justice Jung Sung-ho requested a reprimand disciplinary action against the two prosecutors.

It is reported that the grounds for the disciplinary request mainly consist of two issues: violating the obligation to report in advance regarding the motion to recuse the judge, and failing to apply for referral to ordinary procedures.

The Ministry of Justice's Inspection Committee reportedly concluded that, given the significance of the case involving former Vice Governor Lee Hwa-young, the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office investigation team should have reported their policy to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and obtained approval prior to filing the recusal motion.

However, the investigation team maintains that the Suwon District Office did report its plan and progress regarding the recusal motion to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in advance, making the conclusion that they violated prior reporting obligations factually incorrect.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office Inspection Committee, which reviewed the case last April, also judged that it is difficult to view the prosecutors as having violated reporting obligations regarding the recusal motion.

The inspection committee also took issue with the prosecutors filing the recusal motion without applying for referral to ordinary procedures. In response, the investigation team stated that they verbally requested during that preparatory hearing to refer the case to ordinary procedures for a public participation trial, and that the purpose and grounds of the request were recorded in the trial protocol.

Furthermore, they reportedly argue that there is no regulation stating that an application to refer a case to ordinary procedures must precede a recusal motion, making it difficult to establish grounds for disciplinary action.

The Prosecutor Disciplinary Committee is composed of a total of nine members, including the Minister of Justice as chairperson, the Vice Minister of Justice, two prosecutors, and five civilian members such as lawyers and law professors. Disciplinary actions and their types are decided by a majority vote of the attending members.

Previously, on November 25 of last year, four prosecutors from the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office announced their intention to file a motion to recuse the judge and walked out en masse during a preparatory hearing at the Suwon District Court for former Vice Governor Lee's trial on charges including violations of the Act on Testimony and Appraisal before the National Assembly, after the prosecution's request to call witnesses was dismissed, stating they "cannot follow unfair trial management."

Then-Minister of Justice Jung issued a ministerial warning to the former 1st and 2nd deputy chiefs of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, who had submitted their resignations among the four prosecutors under inspection, while directly requesting disciplinary action against the remaining two.

(Photo provided by Ministry of Justice, Yonhap News)