Did the total volume of drug and gang investigations increase or decrease... Han Dong-hoon vs Kim Nam-guk clash again

Kim Nam-guk "Arrests Actually Increased" vs Han Dong-hoon "20-30% Annual Decline, Clear Quality Deterioration"
Dispute Over Recently Proposed Enforcement Decree
Clash Resumes After 'Aunt' Incident in Previous Confirmation Hearing

From the left, Han Dong-hoon, Minister of Justice, and Kim Nam-guk, member of the Democratic Party of Korea.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] At the full meeting of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 22nd, Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon and Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Nam-guk clashed once again over whether the total volume of drug and organized crime investigations increased or decreased after the adjustment of investigative authority between the prosecution and the police.

During the resumed afternoon session, Lawmaker Kim first presented statistical data from the Ministry of Justice and the Korea Customs Service, arguing that the number of investigations related to drugs and organized crime did not decrease after the adjustment of investigative authority but rather increased.

Kim said, "According to the Ministry of Justice's legislative notice press release, it seems they cited as evidence that 'the scope of prosecution's investigation initiation is narrow, so drug and organized crime investigations are not being properly conducted.'"

Minister Han responded, "That is true."

Kim continued, "However, after reviewing the data, according to the Ministry of Justice's press release, the number increased from 16,044 in 2019 to 18,000 (the figure 20,000 seems to be a 2,000-person error), and conversely, it appears to have decreased by about 11% in 2021."

He added, "But statistics cannot accurately estimate trends by looking at just one year. Looking at 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, the statistics spike by about 2,000 cases in 2020, then return to a usual level of about 16,000 cases, which is a much higher level of arrests. So, based on these statistics, the prosecution's argument that an investigative gap occurred does not seem to be correct."

Minister Han tried to respond immediately, but Kim said, "Since these are statistics, I only checked the facts," and continued his questioning.

He said, "According to the Korea Customs Service's press release, 2021 saw the highest-ever results in drug smuggling crackdowns, and drug seizures in 2020 and 2021 increased more than threefold. So, the prosecution's logic does not seem to hold."

Kim also said, "Regarding the status and crackdown numbers on organized crime-related crimes, after reviewing data from 2013 to the first half of 2022, it cannot be said that the number of organized crime arrests significantly decreased over the past five years compared to 2021. Therefore, there seems to be insufficient evidence to claim that an investigative gap occurred in drug or organized crime investigations," emphasizing this point repeatedly.

Minister Han tried to respond again, but Kim did not give him the opportunity, and Han said, "If you give me a chance later, I will explain."

Kim cited the Kim Hak-ui case and the prosecutor's drinking party scandal as reasons for limiting the prosecution's investigative authority.

He asked, "There was a similar drinking party scandal in 2019 related to the Kim Hak-ui case. Do you remember the case where former Star Mobility Chairman Kim Bong-hyun entertained three prosecutors with drinks?"

Minister Han replied, "I understand some trials are still ongoing."

Kim asked, "Minister Han, when you changed the enforcement decree, you said, 'Why should we not investigate gangsters harassing ordinary people, drug trafficking, voice phishing, abuse of power in public office, and false accusation investigations?'"

Minister Han answered, "I really want to ask that."

Kim said, "These two cases are representative reasons for that."

Minister Han asked, "Are you saying that because of these two cases, the prosecution should not investigate?" but Kim said, "I will explain," and continued his questioning.

Kim pointed out, "The sponsor culture, various briberies, and entertainments have continued. Even Kim Hak-ui, the former vice minister, was promoted to chief prosecutor and high prosecutor while receiving sexual entertainment and bribes. The prosecution's internal self-purification function did not work at all."

He added, "Despite having the opportunity to change this, a similar case occurred again in 2019, more than ten years later. The social consensus to separate investigation and prosecution to ensure fairness in exercising investigative and prosecutorial authority was reached because of the prosecution's selective investigations, leniency, and protecting their own."

Kim also said, "So, this is not about not conducting investigations for the people but about separating investigation and prosecution to make the criminal justice system fair. Claiming that this blocks investigations that should be done for the people distorts the argument and misleads public opinion," he said.

At the end of his questioning, Kim expressed dissatisfaction with Minister Han's recent legislative notice on revising the enforcement decree ahead of the implementation of the 'Complete Abolition of Prosecution's Investigation Rights Act' (amended Prosecutors' Office Act and amended Criminal Procedure Act).

He criticized, "They used the enforcement decree to cunningly expand the scope of investigation initiation significantly, including abuse of authority and false official document creation crimes. This effectively nullifies the legislative intent."

He emphasized again, "This ultimately disregards the legislative intent set by the National Assembly to separate investigation and prosecution and reduce the prosecution's investigative authority."

After Kim's questioning time ended, Minister Han requested the committee chairman for a chance to respond, saying, "Chairman, many questions were asked, and I have a lot to explain, so I hope you give me time."

Given the opportunity, Minister Han refuted Kim's points one by one.

First, Minister Han said, "There is definitely a gap in drug and gangster investigations. As you know, I was the 3rd Deputy Chief Prosecutor at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, overseeing the violent crimes division for two years, and the head of the Anti-Corruption Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office for one year. During that time, the prosecution conducted many major organized crime and drug cases, not just by numbers. That part has completely disappeared. Since then, the police have not been conducting more gangster or drug investigations."

He pointed out, "Therefore, the statistics show a clear 20-30% annual decrease in this area. Even the quality of cases supports this," directly opposing Kim's claims.

Minister Han said, "Because gangster and drug investigations have a structurally high possibility of collusion with local areas, both the police and prosecution should have investigative authority to compete with each other. I really cannot understand why there is such a strong effort to prevent gangster and drug investigations," he said again.

Regarding the Kim Hak-ui case, Minister Han said, "They say the prosecution cannot investigate because of sponsor issues. Past specific wrongdoings should be corrected and supplemented, but that cannot be a reason to eliminate investigative functions and let criminals run rampant. Among lawmakers, some have bribery issues, but who says to shut down the National Assembly? We should rather improve and develop it," he emphasized.

Finally, about the recently announced enforcement decree, Minister Han responded to the accusation of cunning, saying, "I am really curious why abuse of authority and false official document creation should be so restricted."

He continued, "I absolutely do not think it nullifies legislation. We acted according to the delegation of the law, so why would that nullify the law?"

Minister Han emphasized, "If anything is nullified, it should be the hidden intention to let major crime investigations disappear and criminals run rampant. However, the wording and spirit of the law itself are not nullified at all, and the enforcement decree was made within the scope delegated by the law."

Previously, the two clashed during Minister Han's confirmation hearing on May 10.

At that time, during questioning about allegations related to Minister Han's daughter's thesis, Lawmaker Kim mistakenly referred to the corresponding author's aunt, 'Professor Imo,' who was the cousin of Minister Han's daughter’s in-law, as the daughter’s 'aunt,' admitted his mistake, and was greatly embarrassed. After the hearing, parodies such as 'Imo Nam-guk' and 'Nam-guk Imo' circulated on social media.

Also, at that time, Kim asked Minister Han if he knew the concept of the 'Garrity rule,' criticized Han's incorrect answer, but was told by Han that the Hankyoreh article Kim cited as evidence was misquoted.

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