Minister Jung Sung-ho of the Ministry of Justice said on the 16th, "Former President Yoon Suk-yeol also, in fact, should not be doing that, but by taking up a room all day and continually meeting by switching lawyers, other people are harmed."
The Minister said this at the "monthly work meeting," which was livestreamed on YouTube for the first time that day, noting, "A defendant's right to meet with counsel should be guaranteed as much as possible, but doing it all day is a problem," and stated accordingly.
According to the Ministry of Justice, during former President Yoon's first and second detentions, the number of visits totaled 538 over 319 days as of on the 6th.
The Minister asked Lee Hong-yeon, Commissioner General of Korea Correctional Service at the Ministry of Justice, "Why is it hard to secure attorney meeting rooms and why can't people make reservations?" adding, "Former high-ranking politicians and conglomerates meet with their attorneys all day, and this is a problem."
He went on, "If some people with money call in lawyers all day and take over one (meeting room), other lawyers have nowhere to meet, and it is serious," and said, "We are piloting some smart visits, but carefully review the results and problems and either expand them or come up with some plan."
He said, "Even a fundamental right (such as the right to meet with counsel) can be restricted for public welfare, maintaining order, and national security."
That day, the Minister received work reports from the Ministry of Justice's Prosecution Affairs Division, the Crime Prevention Policy Bureau, the Human Rights Bureau, and the Korea Immigration Service, among others. He then discussed strengthening treatment to prevent reoffending by young offenders exempt from criminal liability, responses to election crimes, and plans to build an integrated support system for crime victims.
Regarding a report by Human Rights Bureau Director Seung Jae-hyun that, in light of a series of recent child abuse cases, statutory penalties for child abuse would be raised, the Minister said, "Pushing to raise statutory penalties is a very old-fashioned, outdated approach," adding, "One of the problems revealed in the course of the recent suspected abuse case in Yangju is that it was first reported to the local government and police, but they did not take appropriate action."
The Minister emphasized, "There were warning signs, so we need to build a system for how the state can intervene," and said, "I would like you to review how to build a system that can respond with local governments or the police and how to establish cooperative relationships with the relevant ministries and the police."