Minister Jung Sung-ho of the Justice Ministry said on the 26th that he thinks prosecutors' collective walkout from the trial over former Gyeonggi Province Vice Governor for Peace Lee Hwa-young's "alleged drinking party" was excessive.
The Minister said this while attending The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee meeting that day in response to a question from People Power Party lawmaker Gwak Gyu-taek.
Earlier, the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, which is in charge of maintaining the indictment in Lee's "alleged drinking party" and other cases, filed a motion to recuse the bench and walked out at a pretrial hearing held the previous day before the Suwon District Court's Criminal Division 11 (Presiding Judge Song Byeong-hun), saying it could not comply with "unfair litigation directives." The President that day ordered a stern inspection in response.
Gwak asked, "If an order comes down from the presidential office, will you conduct an inspection?" The Minister said, "I did not receive it directly; I saw it through media reports," but added, "Because they raised an objection regarding the litigation directives and even left the courtroom, I do think it was somewhat excessive."
The Minister said, "It is very rare for prosecutors to file a recusal motion against a judge," and answered, "There was a problem with filing and then immediately walking out."
Regarding the release of the attorney for former Ministry of National Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who was placed in custody by the bench for courtroom disorderly conduct, the Minister also said, "After the incident, I summoned the corrections officials and issued a stern reprimand."