[사회]秋 “Used as Attorney General’s pocket money” … More special activity expenses on the cutting board

[앵커]

The cost of special activities that can be skipped from the testing process is often called “blind money” and was often controversial.

The Minister of Justice, Choo Mi-ae, ordered an investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office into the special activities expenses of Attorney General Yoon Seok-yeol, and the result is noteworthy.

Reporter Park Seo-kyung reports.

[기자]

In 2017, the case of a ‘money bag dinner’ in which 7 prosecutors from the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office, including the then District Attorney’s Office, and three prosecutors from the Ministry of Justice, including former Director Ahn Tae-geun , they exchanged packs of breath over dinner.

At that time, the Ministry of Justice and the Joint Prosecutor’s Office of the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office announced that the origin of the money and goods for the dinner had been confirmed as expenses for special activities by the prosecution.

[장인종 / 당시 합동감찰반 총괄팀장 (지난 2017년) : 당시 주고받은 금원의 출처는 모두 특수활동비로 확인됐으며….]

Special activity fees are used to defray the investigative expenses of prosecutors, but the trial process can be skipped after use.

However, as inappropriate practices and controversial dates have been revealed, the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office of the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office has periodically verified the usage history.

Within the prosecution, in preparation for the indictment, receipts and accounting books containing the use name were also unofficially stored.

In the midst of this, the issue of expenses for special activities came up again.

In the Legislative Judicial Committee of the National Assembly on the 5th, the ruling party legislators decided to focus on the special activities expenses of Attorney General Yoon Seok-yeol.

Immediately the next day, Justice Minister Chu Mi-ae ordered the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office to investigate whether special activities expenses were paid to a specific prosecutor or department of more than 5 million won.

[추미애 / 법무부 장관 : 총장 주머닛돈처럼 아마 그렇게….]

As the order came just a day after the ruling party’s suspicions arose, some analysts say Minister Chu is being pressured again with an inspection card.

In fact, if President Yoon took care of my family by allocating expenses for special activities at will, his position would inevitably suffer.

However, some point out that both the minister’s involvement in the investigation and the verification of how much was used in a specific case can measure the importance of the investigation.

[김한규 / 변호사 : 검찰의 수사 진행 상황이나 대상을 일일이 감시하겠단 거거든요. 이렇게 되면 수사 중립성이나 독립성이 침해될 우려가 있고요.]

As the voices of the prosecution continue to criticize Minister Chu, the consequences of the prosecution are likely to be inconvenient regardless of the results of the inspection.

This is YTN Park Seo-kyung.

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