Failure of Prosecution Reform Under Moon Administration... Belated Dispute Over Responsibility

On May 15, Kyun-Taek Park (21st class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute), a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, called on Cho Kuk, the Pyeongtaek candidate for the Cho Kuk Innovation Party in the National Assembly by-election, to "take responsibility and apologize for the failure of prosecution reform during the Moon Jae-in administration and for the rise of the Yoon Suk-yeol government."

On this day, Park posted a message on his Facebook page titled "Does Representative Cho Kuk have the right to talk about prosecution reform?" He stated that, despite Cho leading prosecution reform and appointments as Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs during the Moon Jae-in administration, the end result was an expansion of prosecutorial power.

Gyun-Taek Park, Member of the Democratic Party of Korea. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

He said, "As the former Director of the Criminal Affairs Bureau at the Ministry of Justice during Cho Kuk's time as Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs, I cannot help but ask: does he truly have the right to speak about prosecution reform?"

He continued, "During the Moon Jae-in administration, it was Representative Cho Kuk who, as a key figure in the pivotal role of Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs, designed and led the reform of power institutions. However, prosecutorial power actually grew larger, became more politicized, and ultimately turned into a behemoth that shook the very power structure of the Republic of Korea."

Park cited three points of responsibility for candidate Cho.

First, he said, "While Cho Kuk spoke of prosecution reform, he left untouched the special investigation system, which is the core of prosecutorial power." Park emphasized on several occasions, as the then Director of the Criminal Affairs Bureau, that "the essence of prosecution reform is to reduce the direct investigative functions of the special investigation units that abuse excessive investigations, and to maintain the human rights protection function of the criminal affairs division that handles cases referred by the police," but these suggestions were not accepted.

Park stated, "On the contrary, an immature reform was pushed ahead that preserved the special investigation units and undermined the criminal affairs division. He even created the position of the 4th Deputy Chief at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, as requested by Yoon Suk-yeol, thereby strengthening the special investigation function."

He also claimed that Cho turned the prosecution "into Yoon Suk-yeol's private organization."

Park said, "Cho Kuk attempted to appoint Han Dong-hoon as the 3rd Deputy Chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and to assign Yoon Suk-yeol's close associates and former members of the Central Investigation Department as division heads there. I strongly opposed, warning that 'if we do as Yoon Suk-yeol requests, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office will be transformed into his private organization.'"

He especially warned, "Han Dong-hoon was not even of the proper seniority to become a deputy chief, yet he was promoted alone and placed in the top post of 3rd Deputy Chief. I repeatedly cautioned that this would undermine public office order and create someone working solely for Yoon Suk-yeol. However, Cho Kuk acceded to Yoon Suk-yeol's demands."

He added, "After appointing Yoon Suk-yeol as Prosecutor General, all personnel authority at prosecutors' offices nationwide was delegated entirely to Yoon and his close associates. In the end, the entire prosecution became Yoon Suk-yeol's private organization."

Park also commented on the so-called 'Cho Kuk incident,' stating, "It is true that there were irregularities involving Cho Kuk as Minister of Justice nominee and his family," and argued, "When various suspicions spread, he should have stepped down from the nomination."

He continued, "To grow prosecutorial power by one's own hand and then belatedly call for prosecution reform as a justification for entering politics is a contradictory act that cannot be seen as normal."

However, in response to these claims, some have pointed out that "Park himself, as a personnel executive within the prosecution at that time, cannot be free from some responsibility for the current situation," and "contrary to his claim that he tried to prevent Yoon Suk-yeol from turning the prosecution into his own private organization, his inaction may have contributed to the present circumstances."

Meanwhile, on May 13, candidate Cho appeared on a radio program and, targeting Kim Yong-nam (24th class), Democratic Party candidate for Pyeongtaek, said, "One of the major tasks of our time in Korea is prosecution reform," and added, "It is undoubtedly something I can accomplish and must see through to the end."

Kim Jihyun, Legal Times Reporter

※This article is based on content supplied by Law Times.

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