Park Beom-gye "Investigation of Former Prime Minister Inappropriate... Will Not Tolerate Public Opinion Manipulation and Information Leaks"

Specification of Exceptional Disclosure Scope Before Prosecution Filing... Introduction of Fact-Finding Investigation Procedure for Regulatory Violations

Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye is preparing for a briefing on the joint inspection results of the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office at the Gyeonggi Government Gwacheon Complex on the 14th. / Gwacheon - Photo by Kang Jin-hyeong aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] Park Beom-gye, Minister of Justice, announced that inappropriate investigative practices were confirmed during the handling of the alleged witness tampering case involving former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook. According to Minister Park, illegal matters were identified throughout all processes, from summoning related parties to case reassignment and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office chief prosecutors' meeting. He also warned of strong punishment for malicious leaks of investigation details. Minister Park stated, "We will never tolerate actions that manipulate public opinion."

On the 14th, Minister Park announced the results of a joint inspection by the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office regarding the alleged witness tampering case involving former Prime Minister Han at the Ministry of Justice's large conference room in the Government Complex Gwacheon.

First, concerning the alleged witness tampering case involving former Prime Minister Han, inappropriate investigative practices such as repeated summons of detainees, improper provision of conveniences, and failure to attach investigation documents were identified in various places during the review of complaint records. He pointed out that confusion was caused when the case was reassigned from the Inspection Department to the Human Rights Department after the complaint was received in April 2020. He criticized that changing the lead prosecutor invited controversy over the fairness of the conclusion.

In particular, he raised issues with the Supreme Prosecutors' Office forming a meeting body composed of only a few researchers, resulting in an insufficient decision-making process, and that the chief prosecutors' meeting held under Minister Park's directive for reinvestigation was reported to the media just 45 minutes after it ended.

Minister Park declared that to correct such investigative practices, "Malicious leaks of investigation details will be thoroughly identified and severely punished." He also revealed plans to establish the right to appeal, human rights protection officer investigations, and a mandatory inspection system.

Specifically, while clarifying the exceptional scope of disclosure before prosecution, strict standards will be presented by dividing stages of investigation such as requests for investigation, complaints and accusations, search and seizure, travel bans, summons, arrest, and detention. Additionally, whether the disclosed content pertains to procedural progress of the case, the conclusion of the investigation, or substantive matters will also be included in the review criteria for disclosure.

A procedure for investigating violations of regulations was also established. This applies when someone other than the official public relations officer leaks case details. Minister Park stated, "We will never tolerate anyone other than the public relations officer leaking essential investigation details during the early and middle stages of the investigation to manipulate public opinion for securing investigative momentum."

He also disclosed principles for case assignment and investigation team composition. For example, unless there are special circumstances, the principle of territorial jurisdiction will be observed, and the investigation team will be composed of prosecutors belonging to the prosecution office assigned the case. A Ministry of Justice official explained, "There will be no more cases where a commanding officer arbitrarily forms an investigation team regardless of the affiliated office, causing distrust in investigation results."

Furthermore, a plan was proposed to record and preserve prosecutors' pre-interview contents with witnesses, due to the high possibility of witnesses' memories being contaminated or distorted by repeated summons and intense investigations. Minister Park said, "This joint inspection was not intended to punish or discipline anyone," and added, "I hope the announcement of the joint inspection results will serve as an opportunity for our prosecution to break away from the past and move toward a completely new future prosecution."

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