[Reporter’s Notebook] Unable to Investigate and Reduced to Subcontractor Role... The Faltering Prosecution

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] "You know, lawyers and doctors use the character for scholar (士) and teacher (師) respectively, but do you know why prosecutors use the character for work (事)?"

In the drama ‘Secret Forest,’ which depicts stories inside the prosecution, Prosecutor General Ahn Seung-ho (played by Sunwoo Jae-duk) asked Hwang Si-mok (played by Cho Seung-woo) this question when appointing him as a special prosecutor to uncover the ‘prosecutor sponsor’ case. When Hwang Si-mok replied, "I don’t really know," Ahn Seung-ho explained, "The character for work (事) symbolizes a person holding a flag and advancing forward. Prosecutors who use this character must lead the front lines in every case, holding the flag." Many prosecutors work with this sense of mission. They are recognized as the ‘best brain group’ by themselves and others.

However, the prosecution is now faltering. The reason is none other than their failure to conduct proper investigations. It is said, "Prosecutors must speak through investigations," but they are being criticized for not even mastering the basics.

The day before, they suffered public humiliation in court. An employee of the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), who was indicted on charges of land speculation using insider information, was acquitted at the Suwon District Court Ansan Branch. The court stated, "The prosecutor did not even investigate what the insider information entailed." It also said, "There is strong suspicion of the crime." It was an unusual ruling implying that although the person seemed to have committed the crime, the prosecutor’s poor investigation prevented a guilty verdict.

The investigation into the ‘Daejang-dong development preferential treatment and lobbying’ allegations is also frustrating. Seven team members tested positive for COVID-19. The team leader, Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kim Tae-hoon, completed vaccination but took leave due to the incubation period and will return on the 11th. There are also voices saying there is no will to investigate. A lawyer who is a former prosecution executive sharply criticized Kim’s leave, saying, "He should be thinking about leading the investigation on site no matter what, but taking leave means he is basically not going to investigate."

Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo’s leadership is being questioned. The controversy surrounding the spokesperson’s mobile phone, which moved from the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office’s Inspection Department to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), has led to criticism that the prosecution has become a "subcontractor" of the CIO. The public is asking, is this really the ‘prosecution reform’ we wanted? The prosecution should take the sarcastic comments saying "You really did a great reform" that appear daily in news comments more seriously.

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