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| Korea Board of Audit and Inspection recently warned Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae over poor management of the ministry and its affiliated organizations./ Korea Times file |
By Kim Se-jeong
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| Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae arrives at her office in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. Yonhap |
According to the BAI's annual audit report, Wednesday, it said the justice minister failed to take adequate disciplinary action against former inmates who violated conditions of their parole.
Three parolees failed to fulfill their responsibility of maintaining employment, yet the justice ministry failed to take them back into custody.
Choo has been making headlines over her ongoing tussles with Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, but her mismanagement of affairs related to prisoners and parolees ― one of her main responsibilities ― is now gaining more public attention.
The BAI also criticized the minister for mismanaging government-issued housing for ex-convicts. "The ministry should manage the free housing units for ex-convicts as is required by the law," the board said mentioning that some units had been made available for occupancy by Justice Ministry officials and one to an affluent ex-convict.
Choo also received a warning over accounting records. The Korea Rehabilitation Agency, under the ministry, failed to report 150 million won of revenue every year between 2015 and 2019 and the Korea Legal Aid Corp. reported its spending inaccurately between 2018 and 2019.
The warning came as she is tightening her grip on the Prosecutors' Office, accusing prosecutors of corruption and demanding reform. Many inside and outside the prosecution view her attempts as an abuse of power and politically motivated in support of the Moon administration that put her in the position.
A personnel reshuffle last week was the latest attempt to bring changes to the prosecution and isolate the prosecutor general. She filled key positions with pro-government prosecutors and demoted those identified as being anti-government.
Choo is close to President Moon Jae-in who took office in 2017 with a pledge to reform the prosecution which had often been involved in politically charged corruption cases.
Moon made progress. The prosecutorial reform bill was passed into law which orders power sharing between the police and the prosecution, and the establishment of a body committed to investigating only cases involving high-ranking government officials.
Yet, Moon faced strong opposition from prosecutors. In particular, Yoon is a headache for the President, as he launched a series of corruption investigations into Moon's close aides. Moon and his supporters maintain that the accused are innocent and a politically-motivated Yoon pushed the cases too far.
Yoon views the Moon administration to be just as corrupt as previous governments and has been attempting to get to the bottom of abundant allegations against it.
The prosecutor general's struggle has made him a hero among people now turning against Moon, and conservative voters across the country. Recent opinion polls showed conservative voters supported Yoon as a candidate for the next presidential election slated for 2022.
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