Investigation Team Leader of Kim Hak-ui Case: "Request for Transfer to the Corruption Investigation Office... Absurd Logic"

Investigation Team Leader Lee Jeong-seop: "The Corruption Investigation Office Transferred the Case, Has No Authority Over It... Exercising Investigation Command Without Legal Basis"

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The head of the investigation team handling the illegal travel ban suspicion case involving former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui has directly refuted the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (HCIO)'s demand for 'transfer.' Earlier, the HCIO sent an official letter to the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office requesting, "Since this case falls under the HCIO's prosecution jurisdiction, please transfer the case after investigation."

On the 15th, Lee Jeongseop, head of the Criminal Division 3 at Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, stated via the internal prosecution network E-Pros, "The HCIO chief, when re-transferring the case, explicitly wrote in the official letter, 'Please transfer the case so that the HCIO can decide whether to prosecute after completing the investigation.' However, when faced with numerous questions afterward, they resorted to an absurd and unprecedented logic claiming that they transferred not the 'case' but only the 'investigation authority,' which is incomprehensible."

Prosecutor Lee reviewed the provision related to the HCIO's official letter stating, "This case falls under the HCIO's prosecution jurisdiction according to Article 3, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 2 of the HCIO Act, so please transfer the case to the HCIO so that it can decide whether to prosecute after completing the investigation," and concluded that "it is natural to consider that once the HCIO transfers a case to another investigative agency, the HCIO no longer has the authority to be involved in that case."

Although the HCIO claims that it transferred only the 'investigation authority' to the prosecution and not the 'prosecution authority,' the subject of transfer is the 'case,' and the receiving agency handles the case by exercising the authority it holds. Therefore, the concept of transferring authority is difficult to assume. Ultimately, Prosecutor Lee stated that since the HCIO, under the HCIO Act, loses authority over a case once it transfers it to another investigative agency, the HCIO itself falls under this rule, and thus its exercise of investigative command without legal basis is problematic.

Regarding whether it is lawful for the HCIO to re-transfer a case that was already re-transferred, Prosecutor Lee said, "Although there is no restriction under the HCIO Act, and there is room to argue that a re-transferred case can be requested for re-retransfer based on Article 24, Paragraph 3 and Paragraph 1, this is akin to 'ping-ponging' the case between investigative agencies." He also expressed concerns about potential issues such as delays in case handling, infringement of the rights of investigation subjects, and controversies over unfair investigations.

Prosecutor Lee pointed out, "Requesting a re-retransfer of a re-transferred case is highly likely to be an illegal administrative act involving abuse or deviation of discretionary power."

Additionally, he expressed regret over the Ministry of Justice's decision not to extend the dispatch period of two prosecutors assigned to the investigation team. Prosecutor Lee said, "I feel deeply sorry for the two junior prosecutors who are leaving without completing the investigation due to a deficient team leader who couldn't even properly follow the proxy request procedure. If it is judged that the remaining investigative personnel can properly conclude the investigation, then so be it, and I suppose that will indeed be the case."

Previously, Park Beom-gye, Minister of Justice, denied the extension approval for the dispatch of Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lim Sejin and Prosecutor Kim Gyeongmok, who participated in the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Criminal Division 3 handling the former Deputy Minister Kim's case in a dispatch format.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.