Tension Over Document Delivery Between Prosecutors and Police... Supreme Prosecutors' Office Says "Bring Documents in Person"

Prosecutors and the Corruption Investigation Office Clash Over Case Transfer Criteria
Corruption Investigation Office Complains, "Isn't This Abusing Power by Treating Us as a Subordinate Agency?"

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] The High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit (HCIC) and the prosecution, which had conflicts over investigative authority, have now started a turf war over the method of document delivery.

According to the legal community on the 25th, HCIC is known to have had its staff personally transport documents when transferring cases to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. In fact, scenes of HCIC staff loading documents onto escort vehicles at the main gate were often captured. It is reported that a significant portion of these documents were transferred to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

On the other hand, the prosecution is known to have mostly used postal services when transferring cases to HCIC. Postal services were also used when HCIC handed over case documents to the police or vice versa. According to the office of People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Sang-beom, as of the 13th, HCIC had transferred a total of 1,057 cases to other investigative agencies.

There is an opinion that the background behind HCIC delivering materials through personnel involves a delicate relationship with the prosecution. According to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's position statement on the interpretation of the HCIC Act, disclosed last month by Democratic Party lawmaker Song Ki-heon, the prosecution's view is that "HCIC is a primary investigative agency."

However, HCIC and the police have long clashed over the standards for case transfers. They have confronted each other over investigative and prosecutorial authority in every case, including the issue of "conditional (reserved) transfer" regarding prosecutor Lee Gyu-won and transfer requests concerning three prosecutors including Moon Hong-seong. Inside HCIC, it is known that there were complaints such as "the staff consistently proposed sending documents by mail" and "isn't this de facto abuse of power, treating HCIC as a subordinate agency?"

In an official statement on the same day, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office stated, "There has been no case of having HCIC staff bring transfer documents directly without consultation or rejecting postal submissions," and added, "Since case records from most investigative agencies range from several thousand to tens of thousands of pages, postal delivery is often inappropriate."

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