Handonghun Erasing Traces of Cho Kuk and Choo Mi-ae... Push to Abolish 'Prosecutor Dispatch Review Committee'

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon. / Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The Ministry of Justice has begun the process of abolishing the 'Prosecutor Dispatch Review Committee (Dispatch Review Committee),' which was established during former Minister Cho Kuk's tenure to minimize prosecutors' dispatch to external organizations.

On the 7th, the Ministry of Justice announced, "We are proceeding with the abolition procedure of the Ministry of Justice regulation, 'Guidelines on the Establishment and Operation of the Prosecutor Dispatch Review Committee.'

The Ministry of Justice explained the background, stating, "There have been criticisms that the Minister of Justice intervened in specific cases during the operation of the Dispatch Review Committee, undermining the independence and neutrality of prosecution investigations. Therefore, the abolition procedure of the guidelines is underway to ensure that the Minister of Justice does not misuse the Dispatch Review Committee to involve in specific cases."

This comes about two years and eight months after former Minister Cho announced and implemented the guidelines in October 2019 as part of prosecutorial reform to minimize prosecutors' dispatch to external organizations.

The guidelines include provisions such as "The dispatch of prosecutors to external organizations and the appointment of prosecutors as acting officers must be strictly reviewed for necessity, and only allowed when dispatch or acting appointments are unavoidable," and "The maximum period for a prosecutor acting as a deputy is three months, and appointments exceeding three months are only permitted in cases where special circumstances are recognized, considering the nature of the duties and personnel conditions of each prosecution office," thereby restricting prosecutors' dispatch or acting appointments.

In particular, among the seven committee members including one chairperson, the Deputy Minister of Justice serves as the chairperson, and when the chairperson is unable to perform duties, a member appointed by the Minister of Justice acts as chairperson. Furthermore, all members, including four prosecutors, are appointed or commissioned by the Minister of Justice, creating a structure where the decision on prosecutor dispatch is effectively determined according to the Minister of Justice's intentions.

At the time, the Ministry of Justice explained that the purpose was to strictly supervise the appropriateness of prosecutors' dispatch to external organizations and to minimize dispatches to expand the manpower of the criminal and trial divisions, which suffer from chronic staff shortages.

However, some in the legal community criticized that former Minister Cho's intention was to pressure the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office investigation team, which was investigating his family, by recalling the dispatched prosecutors.

In March last year, then Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye denied approval for the extension of dispatch for two prosecutors?Im Se-jin, then head of the Criminal Division 2 at the Pyeongtaek Branch of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, and Kim Kyung-mok, then prosecutor at Busan District Prosecutors' Office?who were dispatched to the 'Kim Hak-eui illegal deportation' investigation team, despite Suwon District Prosecutors' Office's request that they were "personnel who cannot be replaced by other prosecutors," ahead of the investigation into Lee Seong-yoon, head of Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, and prosecutor Lee Gyu-won, related to the case re-transferred from the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Department.

Meanwhile, Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon is also considering revising the Ministry of Justice ordinance, 'Regulations on the Prohibition of Disclosure of Criminal Cases,' which was enacted to replace the existing investigation publicity rules during former Minister Cho's intense investigation period.

The regulations on the prohibition of disclosure of criminal cases generally prohibit the disclosure of suspects' charges, investigation status, real names of persons involved in cases, and other related information, allowing disclosure only in extremely exceptional cases after the resolution of the Criminal Case Disclosure Deliberation Committee, and in principle only through the professional public relations officer. This has been criticized for providing the prosecution with grounds to conduct 'dark investigations' whenever they wish.

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