[Reporter’s Notebook] Prosecution and Police Protect Their Turf... 'Public Inconvenience' Neglected

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] There is a regular visitor at the prosecution office's civil affairs office. This old man comes to Seocho-dong after transferring several times from a rural village he has never heard of, where a bus arrives every two hours. The elderly man, who looks as if all the world's injustices are directed at him, has noticeably grown thin over the past two years. When asked why, he said that coming to the prosecution office is already exhausting, and having to go to the police station as well inevitably drains his energy. The old man, unaware of the world's ways and having struck out once again, mutters to himself, "Maybe I should slip some bribe money," before turning away.

It has been two years since the adjustment of investigative authority between the prosecution and the police. While Yeouido (National Assembly) and Migeun-dong (Police Agency) toasted the resolution of a long-standing issue that had dragged on for decades, Seocho-dong (Prosecution Office) swallowed bitter soju, and the citizens caught in legal battles cried out in despair. While those with considerable money switched to police-affiliated lawyers at the police station and prosecution-affiliated lawyers at the prosecution office to prove their innocence, the majority of citizens had to endure the inconvenience of going back and forth between the police station and the prosecution office. The adjustment of investigative authority, which should have been led by the people, excluded them and ended up as a fight among the National Assembly, prosecution, and police.

With the change of administration, the National Assembly, prosecution, and police are stirring again. Yet, once again, the truly important citizens are left out. The abolition of the prosecution's investigative command authority by the Minister of Justice and the prosecution's budget independence are mere stories from another world to those who endure day by day. What is more important is to eliminate the need to visit the prosecution office and police station multiple times, to allow investigations to be conducted where desired, and to have cases processed swiftly. However, because everyone is obsessed with protecting their own turf, resolving the inconvenience of the majority of citizens has been pushed to the back burner.

It is not easy to change the already broken criminal justice system itself. If so, measures to minimize citizens' inconvenience must be discussed. Instead of meaningless divisions into prosecution and police domains, improvements should be made in a direction that addresses what citizens need and want. It is time to listen to the voices of the people.

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