Ministry of Justice indefinitely extends suspension of Park Sang-yong, who is facing disciplinary action

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\r\n[Financial News] The Ministry of Justice has effectively extended indefinitely the suspension of Park Sang-yong, a deputy chief prosecutor at the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office who is under inspection over allegations of misconduct during the investigation into the Ssangbangwool North Korea remittance case.
According to the legal community on the 29th, the Ministry of Justice sent Park a notice the previous day stating that he would be suspended from duty from next month 6 until further notice.
Park has been suspended from duty since the 6th of last month. At the time, the Ministry of Justice accepted a request from Koo Ja-hyun, acting prosecutor general of South Korea, and decided that it was highly inappropriate for Park to continue performing his duties, imposing a suspension of execution.
The original suspension period was set at two months, the maximum period that the Minister of Justice may order at the request of the Prosecutor General of South Korea. With this latest measure, however, the suspension is likely to continue for a prolonged period.
The Prosecutors Disciplinary Act allows the Minister of Justice to order the suspension of duty for a person subject to disciplinary action, but it does not set a separate limit on the suspension period.
Earlier, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office of the Republic of Korea (SPO) requested a two-month suspension, judging that Park had grounds for discipline after allegedly making an improper demand for a confession through a lawyer during the North Korea remittance case investigation, failing to prepare an investigation process confirmation document, and providing outside food to a suspect.
Based on the SPO's disciplinary request, the Ministry of Justice is reviewing whether to launch its own inspection. On the 26th, it also appointed a new Inspector General of the Ministry of Justice, a post that had been vacant for about a year.
Separately, the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office, where Park works, is also conducting an inspection. Park is under suspicion of violating his duty of political neutrality after appearing before the National Assembly Special Committee on State Administration Investigation in April, refusing to take an oath as a witness, and then attending a forum hosted by the People Power Party.
After casting his early vote in the June 3 local elections, Minister of Justice Jeong Seong-ho told reporters that "because there is also an inspection at the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office, we plan to handle the matter carefully after reviewing the results."
 
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scottchoi15@fnnews.com Choi Eun-sol Reporter