Park Beom-gye Attends High Prosecutors' Office Chiefs Meeting; Supreme Prosecutors' Office Holds Dedicated Chief Prosecutors' Meeting... Judiciary and Prosecution Discuss Measures for LH Case

Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye is answering reporters' questions before attending a meeting with high prosecutors regarding allegations of real estate speculation by LH employees at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 15th. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporters Seokjin Choi and Daehyun Kim] Park Beom-gye, Minister of Justice, and the top prosecutors are convening to discuss measures to address the speculation allegations involving employees of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) related to the 3rd New Town development.

At 10:30 a.m. on the 15th, a meeting of high prosecutors was held in the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office conference room, presided over by Minister Park, with six frontline high prosecutors including Cho Sang-chul, Chief Prosecutor of Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, and Bae Seong-beom, Director of the Judicial Research and Training Institute, in attendance.

Before entering the high prosecutors' office building, Minister Park told reporters, “Since the high prosecutors have a lot of experience and expertise, I arranged this meeting to share concerns about the issues worrying the public and to hear their opinions on possible good measures.”

When asked about criticisms that the prosecution’s role is ineffective due to limited investigative authority, he responded, “Rather than the investigative authority being limited, it has been reformed as part of prosecution reform. Nevertheless, I believe there are still many roles the prosecution can perform.”

When asked if he was considering dispatching additional prosecutors for the LH investigation, he said, “Rather than discussing specifics, I intend to seek advice on how to maximize the prosecution’s role within its current authority regarding the public’s concerns about the LH speculation incident.”

The meeting, which focused on ▲ countermeasures against real estate speculation criminals and ▲ strengthening the prosecution’s expertise in economic crimes, will include Minister Park listening to frontline high prosecutors’ advice and improvement requests related to the investigation of speculation cases in connection with the LH incident.

Meanwhile, from 10 a.m. on the same day, the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office held a “Meeting of Chief Prosecutors in Charge of Real Estate Speculation Crimes” chaired by Lee Jong-geun, Chief of the Criminal Affairs Department (Prosecutor General).

Seven chief prosecutors specializing in real estate speculation crimes attended, including Kim Bong-hyun, Head of the Criminal Division 1, and prosecutors from Uijeongbu District Prosecutors’ Office, Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office, Goyang Branch, Bucheon Branch, Seongnam Branch, Ansan Branch, and Anyang Branch, which have jurisdiction over the 3rd New Town areas.

At this meeting, concrete measures related to investigative practices, such as “sharing investigative techniques with the police” and “prompt filing of search and seizure warrants and arrest warrants,” were reportedly discussed.

A Ministry of Justice official explained, “The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office chief prosecutors’ meeting is a practical meeting regarding this investigation, while the minister-led meeting is a broader discussion on how the prosecution can demonstrate its capabilities in major real estate speculation cases and economic crimes that attract national attention, prompted by the LH incident. The minister plans to listen to frontline prosecutors’ concerns under the changed investigative circumstances and receive suggestions for improvements.”

Earlier, on the 8th, President Moon Jae-in described this case as “the first case requiring organic cooperation between the prosecution and the police,” urging, “The prosecution should closely coordinate with the police in sharing investigative know-how and techniques and in discussions to set the investigation direction.”

The very next day, Minister Park visited the Ansan Branch of Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office, where a “Real Estate Speculation Investigation Task Force” was formed, to encourage them regarding the speculation allegations involving LH executives and employees in the Gwangmyeong and Siheung New Town sites.

However, despite the president and minister emphasizing cooperation with the prosecution, it is difficult to show a stance acknowledging the police’s investigative limitations by deploying prosecutors without direct investigative authority under the relevant laws from the first major case after the adjustment of investigative authority between the prosecution and police.

Therefore, there are criticisms that the prosecution’s role is inevitably limited in situations where it cannot directly investigate or supervise police investigations.

Although the prosecution outwardly appears to cooperate as much as possible, internally there is a sentiment of “Why should we act as mere supporters for the police?”

Currently, only one additional prosecutor has been dispatched to the government joint investigation team investigating this allegation, besides one chief prosecutor seconded from the Office for Government Policy Coordination, and there are no plans for the Ministry of Justice to dispatch prosecutors to the government joint special investigation headquarters (Hapsubon), which is led by the National Police Agency’s National Investigation Headquarters (Guksubon).

The investigation task force established at the Ansan Branch is also focused on supporting police investigations through legal reviews rather than conducting direct investigations related to this case.

Following the adjustment of investigative authority between the prosecution and police, if the case is later sent with a prosecution opinion, the prosecution may have room to conduct supplementary investigations.

However, considering the scale and scope of the case, which involves about 700 police officers from 15 provincial police agencies besides the three metropolitan police agencies of Gyeonggi Nambu, Gyeonggi Bukbu, and Incheon, it is widely expected that it will be difficult for prosecutors to identify areas for supplementation by merely reviewing the investigation records of a case investigated by the police over several months.

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