[Seocho-dong Legal Talk] If the Complete Prosecution Reform Passes, Will the 'Military Prosecutor Doberman' Also Disappear?

A scene from the drama 'Military Prosecutor Doberman'
Photo by tvN

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The villain in the TV drama 'Military Prosecutor Doberman,' Noh Ha-young, commander of the 4th Army Division (played by Oh Yeon-su), is, in a word, a 'conglomerate' of military corruption.

She abused her power to cover up all the corruption that occurred in the military and even killed people. She ordered the concealment of the GOP shooting incident, murdered the reconnaissance battalion commander who was an obstacle, staged it as a suicide, and joined an internal military secret organization to operate nominee shares of defense contractors for personal gain.

Military prosecutors Doberman (played by Ahn Bo-hyun) and Cha Woo-in (played by Jo Bo-ah) prosecuted her and ultimately secured a death sentence, bringing a happy ending. The weapons of the military prosecutors who fought against the great villain were, of course, investigative and prosecutorial authority. Doberman and Cha Woo-in conducted public investigations in military uniform inside the military and secret investigations in plain clothes outside the military to uncover the charges. Then, during the trial, they informed the court of the truths discovered during the investigation, providing viewers with a sense of satisfaction.

According to the legal community, if the 'complete removal of prosecution's investigative authority' (검수완박) is implemented, it might be difficult to experience the thrill depicted in this drama in real life.

There are concerns that the roles of military prosecutors will become ambiguous and that responding to major incidents within the military, such as defense industry corruption, will become difficult due to the lack of proper coordination between military-related laws and the 검수완박 legislation.

To be precise, the authority of military prosecutors will not disappear. The bill reportedly makes an exception allowing military prosecutors to retain investigative and prosecutorial authority, similar to prosecutors at the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials. However, this overlooks the fact that under our Constitution and current laws, military prosecutors cannot investigate or prosecute ordinary citizens, and conversely, civilian prosecutors cannot investigate or prosecute military personnel, which has sparked controversy.

There is a possibility of problems arising when investigating defense industry corruption involving many stakeholders, including military personnel and external figures. The criticism is that investigations can only be 'half-done,' which is the biggest issue.

Prosecutor Kim Young-joo of Daegu District Prosecutors' Office (age 46, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 37) posted an article titled 'Problems of 검수완박 in Defense Industry Corruption' on the prosecution's internal network 'Eprose' on the 27th. Before becoming a prosecutor, he served as a military legal officer and worked as a legal advisor, military judge, and in the Army Headquarters Legal Affairs Division. He also worked in the Defense Industry Investigation Division at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.

He explained, "Military prosecutors and military police can investigate military personnel, but they cannot investigate defense company representatives or weapons brokers. Prosecutors and police can investigate defense company representatives and weapons brokers, but they cannot investigate military personnel. Ultimately, each side can only conduct half of the investigation."

Therefore, to properly investigate corruption in the defense industry involving multiple agencies and individuals with various interests, a government-wide joint investigation body is being established. He emphasized that the prosecution played a major role as the control tower in this.

However, if the prosecution loses its investigative authority due to 검수완박, it will neither be able to investigate military personnel nor serve as the control tower.

Prosecutor Kim said, "Military prosecutors are allowed to investigate military personnel related to defense industry corruption, but it is hard to understand the intention behind prohibiting prosecutors from investigating defense company representatives and weapons brokers involved in defense industry corruption."

He also emphasized, "This year's defense budget is about 55 trillion won and is expected to gradually increase. There must be a criminal justice system in South Korea to monitor that the people's taxes are used properly and to correct any wrongdoing." He added, "Huge budgets will be wasted, leading to weakened defense capabilities, and ultimately, all the damage will fall on the people."

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