Daegum "Will Actively Cooperate with Joint Inspection"... "Regret over Meeting Result Reports"

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] On the 22nd, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office expressed its position to actively cooperate with the joint inspection ordered by Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye regarding the allegations of 'obstruction of justice through false testimony' in the Han Myeong-sook trial.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office also deeply sympathized with the criticism of improper investigative practices and expressed regret over the fact that the discussion process and conclusions of the meeting were immediately reported to a specific media outlet.

Regarding the Ministry of Justice's briefing on the joint inspection plan by the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office concerning the allegations, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office stated, "We deeply sympathize with the criticism of improper investigative practices in direct prosecution by the prosecution," and added, "We will actively cooperate with the joint inspection to compare and review investigative practices then and now to derive reasonable improvement measures."

In this regard, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office added, "Last June, the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office jointly formed a task force (TF) to fundamentally prohibit the summoning of detainees for obtaining investigative information, strengthen supervision of repetitive investigations, and mandate video recording, among other measures. We will also actively prepare additional improvement plans in the future."

Earlier, the Ministry of Justice announced Minister Park's position on the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's chief prosecutors' meeting decision to not prosecute witness Kim, who was involved in the allegations, during an afternoon briefing.

Minister Park stated, "We will thoroughly investigate the truth through a strict joint inspection by the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office regarding the human rights-violating investigative methods confirmed during the case handling process, the circumstances of providing conveniences to detainees and using them as informants, the opaque summons and investigations of related parties, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's decision of no charges from the time the complaint was filed, and the media leak of the chief prosecutors' meeting contents, all of which damaged procedural justice."

Minister Park also added, "Based on the results of the joint inspection, we will promote institutional improvements such as establishing reasonable procedures and standards to ensure appropriateness in the prosecution's initiation of important investigations, case assignments, and formation of investigation teams."

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office emphasized, "This decision was made solely based on legal principles and evidence through a rational decision-making process lasting 13 hours and 30 minutes, with the attendance of high-ranking prosecutors at the 'Supreme Prosecutors' Office Chief Prosecutors' Meeting' under the Minister's investigative command."

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office also responded to the Ministry of Justice's criticism that "a prosecutor from the investigation team, who was not originally on the attendance list, attended the meeting without prior consultation."

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office explained, "The attendance of the investigation team prosecutor was not to hear his own defense regarding the false testimony coaching allegations, but to accurately assess the credibility of the testimony of Han Mo, an important witness related to the case's issues, and to uncover the substantive truth. The committee decided this without objection from other members, including the head of the inspection department."

Furthermore, "However, since the explanation on this point seemed insufficient during the previous report, if requested by the Ministry of Justice, we will submit the entire or partial transcript regarding compliance with procedural justice."

Regarding the media reporting of the meeting results immediately after the chief prosecutors' meeting, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office stated, "Although there are circumstances to consider, such as public interest in this case and prior notice of the meeting, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office also expresses regret that the discussion process and conclusions of the meeting were immediately reported to a specific media outlet or disclosed externally through social networking services (SNS)."

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