Minister Jung Sung-ho of the Ministry of Justice filed disciplinary charges against Suwon District Prosecutors' Office prosecutors who collectively walked out of the courtroom in November last year in a case related to the so-called "salmon drinking party allegation."
The Ministry of Justice said on the 14th that "the Minister of Justice directly filed for discipline" against two Suwon District Prosecutors' Office prosecutors who, at a pretrial hearing in the "salmon drinking party allegation perjury case" involving former Gyeonggi Province vice governor for peace Lee Hwa-young, filed a motion to recuse the bench in court and then collectively walked out.
Earlier, the Suwon District Court Criminal Division 11 (Presiding Judge Song Byung-hun) held a pretrial hearing on Nov. 25 last year for the case including violation of the National Assembly Testimony and Appraisal Act by the former vice governor. At the time, four prosecutors from the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, after the prosecution's witness request was denied, said they "cannot follow unfair case management," expressed their motion to recuse the bench, and then all exited.
Then President Lee Jae-myung the following month ordered, "Insults to judges are misconduct against the judicial order and the Constitution, so promptly and strictly carry out inspections and investigations in accordance with law and principle into acts that disrupt courtroom order, such as prosecutors, who are public officials, collectively walking out."
Afterward, on the instruction of the Minister, the Suwon High Prosecutors' Office conducted an inspection. The inspection committee of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office concluded in April that it would be difficult to discipline the prosecutors. However, the Ministry of Justice conducted a separate inspection and then filed for discipline against the prosecutors.
Discipline of prosecutors had been possible only by the prosecutor general, but an amendment to the Prosecutors' Disciplinary Act last year allowed the Minister of Justice to file for discipline against prosecutors. The final level of discipline is decided by the Ministry of Justice Prosecutors' Disciplinary Committee, chaired by the Minister of Justice.
The Ministry of Justice explained, "As a result of conducting an in-house inspection directly under the relevant regulations, the Ministry of Justice Inspection Committee recognized the misconduct," and added, "Of the four prosecutors for whom disciplinary opinions were presented, two who had already submitted resignations were given a Minister of Justice warning in consideration that they are subject to dismissal, and discipline was filed for the other two prosecutors."
It added, "For the prosecutors for whom discipline was filed, disciplinary procedures under the disciplinary statutes, including deliberation by the Prosecutors' Disciplinary Committee, will continue," and "the Supreme Prosecutors' Office will be instructed to prepare measures to prevent a recurrence."
Meanwhile, the Suwon District Court Criminal Division 11 on the 20th of last month sentenced the former vice governor to four months in prison for violating the National Assembly Testimony and Appraisal Act.
The "salmon drinking party allegation" is that on May 17, 2023, in Video Recording Room 1313 at the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, the former vice governor drank soju with former SSANGBANGWOOL Chairman Kim Sung-tae and others and was either coaxed into changing testimony or coordinated testimony. The former vice governor testified to the effect that there had been a salmon drinking party at a National Assembly investigative hearing on the impeachment of Prosecutor Park Sang-yong in Oct. 2024 and was indicted on perjury charges.
The court held a citizen participation trial for a record-long 10 days. Four of the seven jurors found that "there was no drinking gathering at the time." The court also said, "The defendant's statements are inconsistent and not credible," judged the "salmon drinking party allegation" to be false, and found the defendant guilty.