Minister Jung Sungho Vows Full Review of Procedures for Handling Past State Violence Cases

"Violence Under Authoritarian Regimes Must Be Exposed and Apologized For"

The Ministry of Justice appears likely to conduct a full re-examination of the entire process for handling past state-violence cases.

Jung Sungho, Minister of Justice. Yonhap News

On the 11th, Minister Jung stated on his social media (SNS), "When it comes to violence committed by the state under past authoritarian regimes, the truth must be actively brought to light, and there must be a sincere apology from the state."

He went on to say, "The prosecution must not simply send a single 'Notice of Non-Indictment' to victims of state violence and act as if that settles all wrongdoing," adding, "This is neither the minimum respect owed to victims who have endured decades of harsh years, nor an appropriate attitude for prosecutors who are supposed to be representatives of the public interest."

He added, "All members of the Ministry of Justice and the prosecution must keep in mind that correcting an unfortunate past is not a favor bestowed by the state, but an obvious duty of the state."

Earlier, the prosecution reviewed the case of 71-year-old Lee Dongsup, who had received a suspended indictment disposition in 1983, and issued a decision of no charges last month. At the time, Lee was handed over to the prosecution on charges of violating the National Security Act for reading Karl Marx's "Das Kapital," which was a banned book, among others. It is reported that, in the process of notifying him of the decision, the prosecution sent only a single written notice of the case decision by mail.

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