After Personnel and Organizational Restructuring, Inspections on Inspections... Prosecutors' Reform Accelerates

Following the Joint Inspection Announcement on the Naeju Han Myeong-sook Case, Inspection of the 'Sponsor Culture' Begins... Efforts to Improve Organizational Culture Underway

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] Park Beom-gye, Minister of Justice, is launching a wide-ranging inspection across the entire prosecution organization. The results of a joint inspection related to the alleged witness tampering in the case of former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook are expected next week, and it is analyzed that the prosecution reform is beginning to accelerate through consecutive inspections.

According to the legal community on the 9th, the Ministry of Justice's Inspection Office plans to start a fact-finding investigation next week under Minister Park's directive concerning the so-called 'sponsor culture' in the prosecution. Minister Park ordered an inspection of Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee, who is suspected of receiving money from a 'fake seafood businessman' named Kim, stating, "It is necessary to look into whether the sponsor culture still has not disappeared, from that perspective."

Accordingly, Minister Park is known to have instructed Inspector Ryu Hyuk and Inspection Officer Im Eun-jeong to verify the circumstances under which the prosecutor received the money. Considering Minister Park's remark, "If something comes up during the process, then we can take further action," the possibility of disciplinary measures is high.

The inspection of the prosecution's 'sponsor culture' is expected to be conducted more broadly. There is talk of reviewing past prosecutor disciplinary cases and complaints related to prosecutors filed with the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, centered on the Inspection Office. Given the strong public outrage over this incident, improvement plans will also be prepared.

The specific investigation targets and methods are expected to be discussed after the announcement of the joint inspection results by the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office next week regarding the alleged witness tampering case involving former Prime Minister Han. This joint inspection was also led by the Ministry of Justice's Inspection Office. The issue began in March when Minister Park exercised his investigative command authority, expressing doubts about fairness over the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's decision not to prosecute just five days before the statute of limitations expired on the witness tampering allegations. Minister Park received the first report related to the inspection in April, which included the entire matter from obtaining direct investigation intelligence to preliminary investigations, investigations, and prosecution.

In the legal community, it is predicted that Minister Park will likely announce the inspection results personally, and that the content will include strong measures against improper investigative practices and media leaks by the prosecution. Institutional improvement plans for organizational culture will also be presented, which are expected to be expanded in connection with the inspection of the 'sponsor culture.'

Inside and outside the prosecution, it is seen that Minister Park has begun to accelerate prosecution reform through consecutive inspection orders. With the power struggle with the new Prosecutor General over and the unprecedented personnel appointments and organizational restructuring completed, it is said that he has now found justification to focus on prosecution reform. A lawyer from the prosecution said, "With the successive emergence of cases such as the Lime case involving prosecutors receiving alcohol entertainment and the sponsor prosecutor case linked to former Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kim Hyung-jun, an irreversible situation for prosecution reform has been created," adding, "With less than a year left in the current government system and the political sphere shifting to the presidential election phase, Minister Park has no choice but to speed up the prosecution reform process."

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