Jonamgwan: "No Factionalism Within the Prosecution"... "Detention Investigation Practices Must Be Improved"

Direct Hit to Handong-su and Im Eun-jung... "Philosophy or worldview should not be imposed on investigation and prosecution"
Supreme Prosecutors' Office expanded executive meeting discusses 'Cooperation measures to eradicate real estate speculation offenders' and 'Measures to guarantee human rights and defense rights in investigation procedures'
'Guidelines on handling leads for separate crime investigations' to be implemented from the 25th

Acting Prosecutor General Jonam-gwan. / Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] Acting Prosecutor General Cho Nam-gwan sounded the alarm on the rampant factionalism within the prosecution on the 24th, emphasizing that “one must not impose their own philosophy or worldview in investigations or prosecutions.”

Following the investigative directives of Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye, Acting Prosecutor Cho ordered the preparation of additional improvement measures to eradicate wrongful practices in direct investigations by the prosecution, such as “excessive detention investigations.”

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office held an expanded executive meeting chaired by Acting Prosecutor Cho from 10 a.m. that day, attended by department heads (chief prosecutors), bureau chiefs, division chiefs, and senior researchers.

At the meeting, the current agenda topics included “Cooperation measures among departments to eradicate real estate speculation crimes” related to the investigation of alleged speculation by employees of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), and “Measures to guarantee human rights and defense rights in investigative procedures” as a prosecution reform task.

In his opening remarks, Acting Prosecutor Cho first expressed, “We are doing our utmost to prioritize organizational stability and harmony, but it is true that there are many shortcomings,” and reflected, “Although it has been a short period, there have been many events in our prosecution, including the minister’s investigative directives.”

He pointed out, “Our prosecution has long been described by the media as divided into factions such as the OO line or OO close aides, split into ‘our side’ and ‘their side,’ and we ourselves unconsciously act that way and even come to distrust the other side,” adding, “While identifying friend or foe is crucial in politics and war, in the judicial realm of investigation and trial, we must not divide into ‘our side’ and ‘the other side.’”

He continued, “Once factions begin to form even in the judicial domain, justice and fairness cannot be established,” emphasizing, “What unites our prosecution is the value of justice and fairness, and more specifically, legal principles and evidence.”

Acting Prosecutor Cho reiterated, “We must all be humble before legal principles and evidence and must not impose our own philosophy or worldview.” This statement was interpreted as a reference to Han Dong-su, head of the Inspection Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and Im Eun-jung, senior researcher of inspection policy, who insisted on prosecution despite the majority of prosecutors expressing no charges in the perjury allegations related to the trial of former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook.

Regarding the wrongful practices in direct investigations by the prosecution that led Minister Park to order a joint inspection by the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on the former Prime Minister Han’s case, Acting Prosecutor Cho instructed, “In June last year, the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office jointly formed a task force (TF) and took measures such as restricting detainee attendance, strengthening supervision of repeated investigations, and mandating video recording in direct investigations. However, related departments in the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, including inspection, human rights, and criminal policy, should promptly prepare additional improvement measures based on this case.”

In particular, Acting Prosecutor Cho strongly urged improvements to the prosecution’s practices of parallel investigations and detention investigations.

He explained, “Starting tomorrow, we will implement the ‘Guidelines on Handling Clues to Separate Crimes Discovered During Direct Investigations by the Prosecution,’ which is an innovative measure that strictly limits parallel crime investigations and, even when permitted, mandates separation of investigative subjects.”

Acting Prosecutor Cho emphasized, “In light of prosecution reform, it is necessary to re-examine the practice of requesting detention warrants in most direct investigations,” adding, “Detention investigations should be limited to the minimum necessary cases involving flight risk or evidence tampering, in accordance with the law’s intent.”

He further stated, “While establishing justice, excessive measures tend to become harsh, and harsh investigations cannot gain acceptance from the parties involved and may be perceived as retaliation,” instructing, “Even if the prosecution directly detains a suspect, if the grounds for detention are resolved, except in serious crimes, please proactively consider non-detention prosecution.”

Finally, Acting Prosecutor Cho urged regarding prosecution reform, “As the major framework of our country’s criminal system is changing for the first time in over 60 years, related departments including the Criminal Policy Office should cooperate with the police and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), communicate with frontline units, and do their best to ensure procedural human rights are guaranteed and that there is no inconvenience to the public.”

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