▲ Prosecutors' Office
Amid growing voices within the ruling bloc arguing that it is inappropriate to maintain the current number of prosecutors ahead of the launch of the Prosecution Service scheduled for October 2, internal concerns have been raised over a surge in unsolved cases.
According to the legal community today (September 15), Chang Jin-young, a senior prosecutor at the Suncheon Branch of the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office, posted an article titled "More Concerning Figures (4, 8, 16)" on E-Pros, the prosecution's internal communication network.
Senior Prosecutor Chang stated, "The increase in the overall number of unsolved cases across the prosecution has become common knowledge. However, the more concerning figures are the long-term unsolved cases."
He wrote, "While other offices likely experience similar trends, in our office as of July this year, compared to the previous year, total unsolved cases increased by about 4 times, cases unsolved for over 3 months increased by about 8 times, and cases unsolved for over 6 months increased by about 16 times."
He pointed out that the shortage of actually working prosecutors relative to the official quota is the cause.
Senior Prosecutor Chang said, "As the number of prosecutors in the criminal division decreases, the total number of unsolved cases in the office increases, as well as the backlog per prosecutor. Additional tasks outside of pure case processing, such as detained cases and warrant applications requested by judicial police officers that were previously shared among multiple prosecutors, have further increased."
He continued, "With the decrease in the number of prosecutors, reassignments have also increased accordingly. Due to the mass departure of mid-level prosecutors, there is a widening void of prosecutors who should mainly handle complex and difficult cases, leading to an excessive concentration of difficult cases with conflicting claims and complicated facts being dumped on senior-level prosecutors."
He confessed, "As the overall backlog increases, it is hard to withstand the pressure of the backlog numbers piling up right in front of us every day, aside from detained cases or cases nearing the statute of limitations. We end up focusing on cases that are relatively less difficult to process."
He emphasized, "Due to various internal and external factors, professional morale has also dropped significantly. The backlog grows more every day, and the rate of increase for long-term unsolved cases is even steeper."
Senior Prosecutor Chang concluded by asking, "How many cases do prosecutors need to process each month, how many days do we have to work overtime, and how many weekends do we have to come in and work so that it is not considered dereliction of duty or negligence?"
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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