Yoon Seok-youl

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In this Korean name, the family name is Yoon.
Yoon Seok-youl
윤석열
Yoon Seok-youl prosecutor general portrait.jpg
Prosecutor General of South Korea
In office
July 25, 2019 – March 4, 2021
PresidentMoon Jae-in
Preceded by
Succeeded by (acting)
Kim Oh-soo
Personal details
Born (1960-12-18) December 18, 1960 (age 60)
Seodaemun District, Seoul, South Korea
CitizenshipSouth Korean
Political partyPeople Power (July 2021–present)
Other political
affiliations		Independent (until July 2021)
Spouse(s)Kim Kun-hui
ParentsYoon Ki-joong (father)
Alma materSeoul National University
OccupationLawyer, prosecutor
Yoon Seok-youl
Hangul
Hanja
Revised RomanizationYun Seok-yeol
McCune–ReischauerYun Sŏkyŏl

Yoon Seok-youl (Korean: 윤석열; Hanja: 尹錫悅; RR: Yun Seok-yeol, born December 18, 1960) is a South Korean lawyer and a former Prosecutor General of South Korea. He is a candidate in the 2022 South Korean presidential election and considered an electoral favorite amongst the candidates from the conservative People Power Party, the current main opposition party.

Early life and education[]

Yoon Seok-youl was born in Yeonhui-dong, Seodaemun District, Seoul in 1960.[1][2] Some have suggested that he was from Honam, but it was reported as a rumor.[1][3] His father, Yoon Ki-joong, is a retired educator Daegu graduated from Yonsei University and Hitotsubashi University who later established the and is now a full member of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Korea.[1] His mother was born in Gangneung and was a lecturer at Ewha Womans University before leaving the position after her marriage.[1]

Yoon attended [3] and studied law at Seoul National University.[1][4][5] He is a colleague of , a lawyer who described Yoon as an "extrovert and faithful" person.[1] Shortly after the Gwangju Uprising, Yoon and his colleagues held a mock trial, where he acted as a prosecutor, demanding the death penalty for Chun Doo-hwan, the President of the Republic.[1][4] Following the mock trial, Yoon escaped to Gangwon Province.[1][4]

Yoon was exempted in 1982 from national service due to anisometropia.[6] Yoon later added that he could not to get a driving licence because of the condition.[6]

Yoon passed the first part of the bar exam in Year 4 of university but failed the second.[1][4] He kept failing for the next nine years. The reasons for his failed attempts are not clear, but the main cause is widely regarded to be the mock trial he held against Chun Doo-hwan.[1] He finally passed the bar in 1991[1][3][4][5][2] along with Park Beom-kye, a Democratic MP.[1]

Career[]

Yoon started his career at in 1994.[1][3][4][5][2] He headed the Special Branch and Central Investigation Department, both of which investigate corruption-related cases.[1] In 1999, he arrested Assistant Commissioner Park Hui-won, who was involved in a corruption[7][2] in spite of strong objections from bureaucrats in the .[1]

In January 2002, Yoon worked briefly as a lawyer at but left as he felt that he was not suited to the position.[2] Upon his return as a prosecutor, he prosecuted such pro-Roh Moo-hyun figures as Ahn Hee-jung and .[1] In 2006, he apprehended Chung Mong-koo for his complicity in a slush fund case at Hyundai Motor Company.[1][2] In 2008, he worked for the independent counsel team resolving the BBK incident related to President Lee Myung-bak.[1]

In 2013, Yoon led a special investigation team that looked into the National Intelligence Service (NIS)'s involvement in the 2012 NIS public opinion manipulation scandal. Yoon sought the prosecution of the former head of the NIS, Won Sei-hoon for violating the Public Official Election Act. He accused Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn of influencing his investigation.[8] As a result, he was demoted from the Seoul prosecutors' office to the Daegu and Daejeon High Prosecutors' Office.[9][8]

Yoon later became head of investigations in the special prosecutor team of Park Young-soo, which investigated allegations pertaining to the 2016 Choi Soon-sil scandal involving Choi, Samsung vice-chairman Lee Jae-yong and then-President Park Geun-hye, which led to the impeachment of the president in December 2016.[9]

On May 19, 2017, the newly-elected President Moon Jae-in appointed Yoon as Chief of the .[5] The prosecution indicted two former presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye, three former NIS chiefs, former chief justice Yang Sung-tae and more than 100 other former officials and business executives under his tenure.[10] Yoon also led an investigation into accounting fraud at Samsung.[8]

Prosecutor General[]

On June 17, 2019, Yoon was nominated as Prosecutor General, replacing .[4][2] His nomination was welcomed by the ruling Democratic Party and the Party for Democracy and Peace, but was opposed by the Liberty Korea Party and the Bareunmirae Party.[11] A minor centre-left Justice Party remained neutral.[11] On July 16, he was officially appointed as the new Prosecutor General[12] and started his term 9 days later.[13] President Moon ordered him to be neutral, adding that any kind of corruptions must be strictly investigated though it is related to the government.[13]

Yoon led investigations against Minister of Justice Cho Kuk,[14] who was involved in various scandals. His decision to prosecute was welcomed by the opposition but was condemned by the Democratic Party and its supporters.[14][15][16]

After Choo Mi-ae was appointed the new Minister of Justice, she took an action against several prosecutors close to Yoon.[17][18] Choo attributed her decision to Yoon's failure to submit a reorganization plan for his department, which she requested, but this was seen as retaliation by the Blue House for Cho Kuk's prosecution.[19]

In April 2020, Democratic Party lawmakers again attacked Yoon and called on him to resign as the prosecution started investigations into election law violation cases involving both ruling and opposition politicians and also suspected election rigging of the Ulsan mayoral race for Mayor Song Cheol-ho in 2018 by senior secretaries at the Blue House.[20][21][22]

On March 4, 2021, Yoon tendered his resignation, which was accepted by President Moon.[23]

Suspension[]

Yoon Seok-youl is leaving the People Power Party (PPP) headquarters shortly after joining the party on July 30, 2021

On November 24, 2020, Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae suspended Yoon from his position, citing alleged ethical violations, abuse of power, and interference into investigations of his associates and family members.[24] Yoon filed an injunction against the minister's suspension order, which was approved by the Seoul Administrative Court on December 1, temporarily halting the suspension.[25][26] On December 16, the Ministry of Justice then imposed a two-month suspension on Yoon, accepting four of six major charges for disciplinary action. The decision was subsequently approved by President Moon.[27] However on December 24, following an injunction filed at the Seoul Administrative Court, the suspension was overturned as the court accepted Yoon's claim that the process to suspend him was unfair.[28]

2022 presidential campaign[]

Yoon had been considered a potential presidential candidate for the 2022 presidential election since the aftermath of the Cho Kuk scandal, appearing as a significant candidate in general election opinion polls since at least January 2020.[29][30] In a January 2021 poll including all possible presidential candidates, Yoon led as the most favored with 30.4 percent of the vote, more than the individual supports for the ruling Democratic Party frontrunners Lee Jae-myung and Lee Nak-yon.[31]

On June 29, 2021, Yoon officially announced his candidacy in the 2022 presidential election.[32] On July 12, he registered with the National Election Commission as an independent candidate.[33]

On July 30, 2021, Yoon officially joined the conservative People Power Party, which is currently the main opposition party in South Korea.[33] Prior to this Yoon had been a political independent, although his popular support came primarily from conservatives. Yoon was welcomed into the PPP by Choi Jae-hyung, a fellow 2022 presidential candidate, in a small public ceremony at the PPP headquarters located in Yeouido, Seoul. Choi was the former head of the Board of Audit and Inspection and had also just recently joined the PPP, officially having become a member on July 15. Yoon's welcoming ceremony into the People Power Party notably did not include recently elected party leader Lee Jun-seok, who had been outside of Seoul at the time.[33]

Political positions[]

Yoon Seok-youl (left) with Lee Jun-seok (right)

Yoon identifies himself as "conservative",[34] adding that he was inspired by economically liberal Milton Friedman.[35] A former conservative MP, Chung Doo-un, has also considered Yoon a conservative.[36]

Personal life[]

Yoon has been married to Kim Kun-hui since 2012. Kim Kun-hui is the President of Covana Contents, a company that specializes in art exhibitions.[37]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "[원희복의 인물탐구]윤석렬 대전고검 검사… 소영웅주의자인가, 검찰의 자존심인가". February 16, 2016. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g "윤석열 검찰총장 후보자는? "강직한 성품 원리원칙주의자"". June 19, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "윤석열이 전라도라고?". October 28, 2013. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g "검찰총장 직행 윤석열은 누구?…대학때 전두환에 사형구형". June 17, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "[프로필] '강골 검사'의 컴백… 윤석열 서울중앙지검장". May 19, 2017. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b "윤석열 '부동시' 군면제·아내 예금 50억, 청문회 쟁점 되나". June 21, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  7. ^ "[치안감 영장 '수사권 독립' 겹쳐 파문]". May 20, 1999. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b c "South Korea's maverick prosecutor takes aim at heart of Samsung". Nikkei Asian Review. June 18, 2019. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b "Pulling out a Sword Against Deep-Rooted Irregularities: Surprise Nomination of Yoon Seok-yeol". The Kyunghyang Sinmun. June 18, 2019. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  10. ^ "[Kim Myong-sik] Defender of justice or enforcer for power?". The Korea Herald. July 31, 2019. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b "한국당·바른미래 "채택 거부" vs 정의당 "유보" vs 평화당 "적격"". July 9, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  12. ^ "文대통령, 윤석열 검찰총장 임명… 청문보고서 없이 16번째". July 16, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b "文, 윤석열 검찰총장 임명…"살아있는 권력에도 엄정하게"(종합)". July 25, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  14. ^ Jump up to: a b "윤석열 검찰은 왜 조국 수사에 사활 거는가". September 6, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  15. ^ "대규모 촛불집회에 … 윤석열 총장 "검찰 개혁, 국민 뜻 받들 것"". September 29, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  16. ^ "與일각 "윤석열 사퇴하라" vs 한국당 "문 대통령 홍위병 앞세워 사법 쿠데타"". September 30, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  17. ^ "칼 빼든 추미애, '윤석열 라인' 대거 전보 조치". January 8, 2020. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  18. ^ "Reshuffle dismantles prosecutor general's team, probes of Blue House". January 9, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  19. ^ "South Korea's Moon wants to punish 'almighty' prosecutor over unapproved probes into officials". Japan Times. January 12, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  20. ^ "Ruling party takes aim at Prosecutor General Yoon". April 19, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  21. ^ "Ulsan mayor questioned in election-meddling probe". Yonhap. January 20, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  22. ^ "[Kim Myong-sik] Blue House and 2018 Ulsan mayoral election conspiracy". The Korea Herald. February 12, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  23. ^ "Top Prosecutor Resigns to Protest Taking Away Investigative Power from Prosecution". world.kbs.co.kr. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  24. ^ "Justice minister orders suspension of top prosecutor from duty amid feud over reforms, investigations". November 24, 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
  25. ^ "Chief prosecutor seeks injunction against justice minister's order to suspend him". November 26, 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
  26. ^ Kang, Seung-woo (December 2, 2020). "Conflicts with minister further pushes top prosecutor's popularity as presidential hopeful". The Korea Times. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  27. ^ Ock, Kee-won (December 16, 2020). "Justice Ministry suspends Yoon Seok-youl for 2 months, recognizes 4 out of 6 charges levied". Hankyoreh. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  28. ^ "Editorial: Respect court's decision". Korea Times. December 25, 2020. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  29. ^ "윤석열, 차기 대통령감 반열에…PK서 홍준표와 공동 4위 [한국갤럽]". January 17, 2020. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  30. ^ "[대권주자 지지율] 윤석열, 1%로 대권주자 반열에 올랐다… 이낙연 24%, 황교안 9%, 안철수 4%". January 17, 2020. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  31. ^ "Chief prosecutor tops poll of presidential hopefuls". January 3, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  32. ^ Ko, Jun-tae (June 29, 2021). "Ex-Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl announces presidential bid". The Korea Herald. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  33. ^ Jump up to: a b c Kim, Sarah (July 30, 2021). "Yoon Seok-youl signs on with opposition PPP". Korea JoongAng Daily. JoongAng Holdings Ltd. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  34. ^ "[뒤끝작렬] 윤석열 '나는 보수다'…한국당에 던지는 메시지는?". November 6, 2018. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  35. ^ "자칭 보수 윤석열 "프리드먼 책 감명, 사회 점진적 변화 중시"". July 8, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  36. ^ "정두언 "윤석열 성향 보수로 보여···대통령도 대단한 용기"". July 12, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  37. ^ "[여성조선] 전시장에서 만난 윤석열 검찰총장 후보 부인 김건희 대표... 60억대 자산가". June 28, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
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