[Column] Son Junsung's Consecutive Defeats... The Corruption Investigation Office Becomes 'Gongsurae Gongsugeo'

Seokjin Choi, Legal Affairs Specialist Reporter

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit (HCIC), which is investigating the 'accusation manipulation' allegations, has once again failed to secure the custody of Prosecutor Son Jun-seong.

After the arrest warrant for Prosecutor Son was dismissed at the end of October, the HCIC, embarrassed by the outcome, conducted supplementary investigations for over a month and re-requested the warrant. However, on the 3rd, the court dismissed the warrant again, citing 'insufficient grounds for detention.'

The HCIC appointed Deputy Chief Yeo Woon-guk, the second-in-command, as the lead prosecutor for this case involving People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Seok-yeol, concentrating all investigative efforts.

However, after three months of investigation, the HCIC has only managed to identify prosecutors suspected of drafting accusations against ruling party politicians under Prosecutor Son's instructions and those who searched attached court rulings.

Considering that the investigation began amid media reports revealing Telegram messenger screenshots labeled 'Sent by Son Jun-seong,' this is a rather disappointing result.

On the other hand, during this investigation, the HCIC faced several controversies, including 'illegal search and seizure,' 'excessive arrest warrant requests without summons,' and 'outsourced inspections.'

Even taking into account that most of the affiliated prosecutors had no prior investigative experience and that this was their first forced investigation, their performance appeared excessively immature.

Above all, the most regrettable issue is the political neutrality problem, which undermines the very purpose of establishing the HCIC. The HCIC has shown little progress in investigating the 'accusation manipulation' allegations involving whistleblower Jo Seong-eun and National Intelligence Service Director Park Ji-won.

Deputy Chief Yeo, the lead prosecutor in the case involving the opposition party's presidential candidate, was even suspected of arranging and then canceling a dinner appointment after communicating with ruling party politicians who had urged a strong investigation against candidate Yoon.

Within the legal community, the prevailing opinion is that it is difficult to establish charges such as abuse of authority against Prosecutor Son, but the HCIC appears compelled to prosecute despite the risk of acquittal.

With less than 100 days remaining until the presidential election, it is time to reconsider the role and mission of the HCIC, an independent investigative agency that has taken over powers previously concentrated in the prosecution.

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