[ChamTrue?] Lee Jae-myung's Claim on Kim Jin-tae's Abuse of Authority: Investigation Is Possible

Abuse of Authority Dormant Until 2017
Expanded Scope Through Frequent Use During the National Power Abuse Investigation
"Even If Investigation Is Possible... Should Be Limited to Cases Infringing on Fundamental Rights"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is delivering opening remarks at the "Emergency On-site Inspection for Financial Crisis Countermeasures" held on the 27th at the Korea Exchange in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

"If someone instructed not to fulfill the legally confirmed obligations of local governments, that would definitely constitute abuse of authority" (Lee Jae-myung, Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea)

On the 26th, during the Democratic Party of Korea's Supreme Council meeting, Leader Lee made this remark while pointing out the default situation of Legoland under Governor Kim Jin-tae of Gangwon Province. Lee criticized, "(The Board of Audit and Inspection, police, and prosecution taking no action) is a blatant example of unfairness." He claimed that while the Yoon Seok-yeol administration has been conducting extensive investigations and audits against opposition parties, Governor Kim, affiliated with the People Power Party, is being overlooked.

Article 123 of the current Criminal Act (Abuse of Authority) stipulates that "If a public official abuses their authority to compel a person to perform an act not obligated or obstructs the exercise of a person's rights, they shall be punished by imprisonment for up to five years, suspension of qualifications for up to ten years, or a fine not exceeding 10 million won."

The crime of abuse of authority was rarely investigated or prosecuted before 2017, effectively becoming a dormant provision. A lawyer who is a former chief prosecutor explained, "Originally, it was a law under which guilty verdicts were hard to obtain, but it was frequently used starting from the Park Geun-hye administration's 'state manipulation' corruption investigations."

The special prosecution team on state manipulation led by Park Young-soo, in which President Yoon Seok-yeol (then investigation team leader) and Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon were active, investigated the state manipulation case and applied abuse of authority charges to bring key figures including former President Park to trial. Subsequently, related to the 'judicial manipulation' scandal, former Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae and others were also indicted on abuse of authority charges.

However, courts recognize abuse of authority very restrictively. In January 2020, the Supreme Court's full bench set strict standards for establishing abuse of authority in the case of former Chief Secretary Kim Ki-chun, who was indicted for abuse of authority related to the cultural blacklist, stating that "a stricter judgment is necessary regarding 'acts not obligated'." Even if a superior abuses authority to issue orders, it must be rigorously examined whether the subordinate's execution of those orders is unlawful.

Professor Park Kyung-shin of Korea University Law School said, "After the state manipulation judicial processing, the scope of abuse of authority expanded. Even without clear evidence that lower-ranking officials were coerced by superiors, by punishing superiors' decisions as abuse of authority, it effectively opened the door to punishing policy decisions of superiors as abuse of authority."

Regarding the investigability of Governor Kim, Professor Park said, "From the expanded standards, it might be possible to investigate as abuse of authority," but emphasized, "Abuse of authority should be strictly limited to cases where public officials abuse their power and infringe on individual fundamental rights, and should not become a tool to judge the right or wrong of policy decisions such as nuclear phase-out or local government debt management."

Meanwhile, concerning the Legoland incident, as financial market instability spread rapidly with credit markets tightening, Gangwon Province reversed its stance, stating it would "raise funds and repay by December 15."

Gangwon Province Governor Kim Jin-tae is answering questions from reporters after returning through Incheon International Airport Terminal 1 on the afternoon of the 27th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

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