Cho Kuk vows to investigate Woo and former attorney general

Cho Kuk vows to investigate Woo and former attorney general. May. 13, 2017 07:14. weappon@donga.com. On the Chung Yoon-hoi's document scandal, Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs Cho Kuk said on Friday, "It is not right to let go those responsible at the Presidential Secretary for Petition and the Prosecutor's Office from punishment." Cho's statement was in fact a reiteration of the calling for investigation on former Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs Woo Byeong-woo and former Attorney General Kim Soo-nam. The action to clean up deep-rooted irregularities from the former Park Geun-hye administration started in earnest, led by the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae according to President Moon Jae-in's statement on reinvestigating "Choi Soon-sil's meddling of state affairs" on Thursday.

"The manipulation of government affairs all started from Chung Yoon-hoi's document," Cho told the Dong-A Ilbo. "It is my mission and the orders from the president to delve into the root cause of the issue in a broader spectrum around this document. When I were to receive reports on the possible meddling of national affairs from close aides of the president, I would have directly reported and notified to the prosecutor's office once crimes have been detected, instead of concealing, hiding, and threatening the investigators." Cho also said, "Back then, the former senior presidential secretary for civil affairs and the Prosecutor's Office did the opposite. Nevertheless, the truth is yet to be revealed."

Attorney General Kim is suspected as a mastermind who at that time was the Chief of Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office and led investigation on the Chung Yoon-hoi's document scandal. The then- Senior Presidential Secretary to the President for Civil Affairs Woo Byeong-woo is also suspected of convincing accused to make false statements. In particular, the two are likely to be punished for their misconducts once they are found to derail the inquiry, as it was known that the two shared phone conversations several times during the investigation on the manipulation of government affairs.

As the former Attorney General Kim submitted his resignation on Thursday, President Moon accepted the resignation, saying, "We respect Kim's decision to lessen the burden on the new administration."

On Friday, President Moon's "second orders" were to scrap the national history textbook introduced by the former administration, and sing the song "A March for the Beloved" at the May 18 Democratic Uprising ceremony. First, President Moon ordered the Ministry of Education to amend the notification to abolish the government designated history textbook which will take effect in 2018. In addition, President Moon also accepted a resignation from former Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Park Seung-choon who refused to sing the song "March for the Beloved."

"The national history textbook is an evidence of an outdated and standardized history education, and also a symbolic gesture of splitting the nation. To this end, the President made himself clear that history education should no longer be misused for political interests" said Chief Presidential Secretary for Public Communications Yoon Young-chan.