[2023 National Audit] 224 Investigation Start Notices from the Corruption Investigation Office Prosecutors... 31 Cases Still Under Investigation

Since the launch of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency (HCIA), it has been revealed that there have been over 200 cases in which prosecutors, including the chief and deputy chief, were accused or reported and received notifications of investigation commencement from the police or prosecution. Among these, investigations are currently ongoing for 31 cases.

According to data submitted by the HCIA to the office of Jang Dong-hyuk, a member of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee from the People Power Party, out of a total of 224 cases for which the police and prosecution notified the start of investigations into Chief Kim Jin-wook, Deputy Chief Yeo Woon-guk, and 17 HCIA prosecutors by July, 193 cases have been closed, and investigations are still ongoing for 31 cases.

Government Gwacheon Complex, Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials. Photo by Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials

The charges in the ongoing investigations include abuse of authority and obstruction of rights (22 cases), dereliction of duty (3 cases), disclosure of suspect information (3 cases), obstruction of official duties by deception (2 cases), and forgery of official documents (1 case). Most of these cases stem from accusations related to HCIA duties that led to investigations.

In the case of Chief Kim, out of 95 cases notified for investigation commencement, 78 have been closed, and investigations are ongoing for 19 cases. Deputy Chief Yeo has 3 ongoing investigations out of 13 cases, with 10 closed, and for the remaining 17 prosecutors, 107 out of 116 cases have been closed, with 9 cases still under investigation.

While HCIA prosecutors have been subjects of multiple investigations, the agency’s own investigative performance has been reported as insufficient.

From March 14 of last year, when the HCIA abolished the controversial 'selective indictment system' and revised the case handling regulations to introduce the 'all-case indictment system,' until August 22 of this year, the HCIA handled a total of 3,044 cases, of which only 8 were prosecuted and 6 had prosecution requests made.

Notably, from January to August of this year, there were no prosecutions or prosecution requests made, and 287 cases were disposed of without indictment or similar measures.

After the statistics were compiled, last month the HCIA requested prosecution from the prosecution for the case involving former Minister of National Defense Song Young-moo, accused of 'forging signatures under coercion,' and former Busan City Superintendent of Education Kim Seok-jun, accused of 'special hiring irregularities involving dismissed teachers.'

Assemblyman Jang said, "The agency has become one that is investigated rather than one that conducts investigations," and added, "A fundamental reconsideration is needed on whether the HCIA can achieve its founding purpose."

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