Kwon Young-chul: "Leaving Supplementary Investigative Power Revives Prosecution? It's Deceiving the Public"

- Last March, the prosecution was disbanded with the passage of the Prosecution Office Act and the Major Crimes Investigation Office Act
- Leaving supplementary investigative power revives the prosecution? It's deceiving the public
- Give them the right to verify facts? How is that different from supplementary investigative power?
- If supplementary investigative power is completely abolished, will they hand over power and revive the prosecution?
- Jung Chung-rae advocates prosecution reform to appeal to hardline supporters
- The torture-death of Park Jong-chol and the torture of Kim Geun-tae occurred because power was concentrated in the police
- Concentrating power in the police to check the prosecution? It makes no sense
- Police rotational posts? There are over 40,000 officers... How will lodging and boarding issues be solved?
- Ministry of the Interior and Safety's alternative is hasty... Making the Police Committee substantial? It has never properly happened
- Asking Jung Sung-ho to resign? The Democratic Party must focus on the essence
- The value of former police officers turned lawyers is rising... The public is facing harder times
- Police always propose measures to establish new committees... Just increasing the number of police officers

■ Broadcast: SBS Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show (FM 103.5 MHz 7:00 – 9:00)
■ Date: July 17, 2026 (Friday)
■ Host: Attorney Kim Tae-hyun
■ Guest: Kwon Young-chul, Legal Affairs Journalist

[Kim Tae-hyun]: A legal journalist's reporting notebook, covering Yeouido and Seocho-dong. "The Man Who Lives with the Law," or "Beopsanam" for short. Today, we are joined by Kwon Young-chul, former CBS senior reporter. Hello.

[Kwon Young-chul]: Hello.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: What story have you prepared for today?

[Kwon Young-chul]: As you mentioned earlier, the issue of supplementary investigative power is getting noisier as we reach the final stage, so I would like to focus on that issue.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: Let's talk about this. On March 21, led by the Democratic Party, the Major Crimes Investigation Office Act and the Prosecution Office Act were passed.

[Kwon Young-chul]: Yes.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: And on March 23, Jung Chung-rae, then-leader of the Democratic Party, visited the grave of former President Roh Moo-hyun and said, "I report that we have eradicated the tyranny of the prosecution, which wielded its powerful sword at will."

[Kwon Young-chul]: Yes.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: Then, even according to former Representative Jung, the separation of investigation and prosecution was already completed in March, right?

[Kwon Young-chul]: It is finished now. It has already been divided into the Prosecution Office and the Major Crimes Investigation Office. Even if the prosecution becomes the Prosecution Office, they don't even have the right to initiate investigations. Then, the prosecution is disbanded.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: Even if they have supplementary investigative power—or even something much greater than that.

[Kwon Young-chul]: Yes. The prosecution is disbanded.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: So, even if they have it, they can't restore their investigative power like before, right?

[Kwon Young-chul]: No, they cannot.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: But why do those close to Jung within the ruling party, as well as former Representative Jung Chung-rae, keep saying that the separation of investigation and prosecution is an unavoidable principle? Writer Rhyu Si-min also said recently, "The President does not want to separate investigation and prosecution." Why do you think such talk keeps coming up?

[Kwon Young-chul]: It's about clarity—it immediately comes to mind. It has symbolism and is clear. As a political slogan, they have to reform the prosecution, and they've been pushing for the complete disbandment of the prosecution for nearly 20 years, so it really works. Other than that, it's hard to find any other reason.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: Yes.

[Kwon Young-chul]: Let's listen to what former Representative Jung Chung-rae said at the Supreme Council meeting on June 22.

[Jung Chung-rae, then-leader of the Democratic Party / June 22, 2026]
"If we give them even a spoon-sized supplementary investigative power, we don't know when they will turn that spoon into a sword and point it at the administration. That is why I believe we must eliminate even a speck of supplementary investigative power."

[Kim Tae-hyun]: First of all, they don't have the right to initiate investigations, and they can't just look at someone like before and say, "Should we dig into Kwon Young-chul? Something seems off," and initiate an investigation on their own, saying, "Oh, Kwon Young-chul has something." The special investigation and public security departments used to do that a lot.

[Kwon Young-chul]: Yes.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: Since they cannot conduct self-initiated investigations, have no right to initiate investigations, and the Prosecution Office and the Major Crimes Investigation Office have been established, investigation and prosecution are now completely separated.

[Kwon Young-chul]: Yes.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: But former Representative Jung Chung-rae believes that if supplementary investigative power is left, they can somehow use it to revive themselves like before.

[Kwon Young-chul]: Right.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: Is this something to worry about to this extent, or is it making a mountain out of a molehill over something that makes no sense?

[Kwon Young-chul]: It's an unnecessary worry. Honestly, I think it is deceiving the public.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: Deceiving?

[Kwon Young-chul]: Because supplementary investigative power is the final verification and fact-checking process for cases transferred from the police. Even some advocates of abolishing supplementary investigative power say, "Let's give them the right to verify facts." Isn't the right to verify facts the same as supplementary investigative power? How is it different?

[Kim Tae-hyun]: Yes.

[Kwon Young-chul]: They are just saying that the term "investigative power" cannot be used. Hearing this, what came to mind was the talk of abolishing the National Security Act during the Roh Moo-hyun administration—whether to abolish or retain it. At that time, the opposition party, which is now the Grand National Party (Hannara Party), said, "We will agree to everything, just keep the name of the National Security Act." But back then, Chun Jung-bae, Shin Ki-nam, and Chung Dong-young—those who remember will know—insisted until the end that they couldn't do that. As a result, they couldn't even amend a single part of the National Security Act.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: Yes.

[Kwon Young-chul]: Supplementary investigative power can help victims, but it is also a kind of final safety net for the public. The prosecution has practically been dismantled, yet they claim that if supplementary investigative power is left, the prosecution will use it to restore its investigative power and wield its sword again. But looking at it, that's not the case. If they go down this path of completely abolishing supplementary investigative power, they will eventually hand over power and the majority in parliament, and that is how investigative power will be revived.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: Rather?

[Kwon Young-chul]: Rather, yes.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: If the People Power Party becomes the largest party in the next general election and wins the presidential election?

[Kwon Young-chul]: Yes, then it will go that way. Rather, as many even within the Democratic Party argue, if they eliminate even supplementary investigative power, it will eventually lead to a lame-duck status for the ruling party.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: Then, if incidents like the Jang Yoon-ki case keep happening, especially right before elections?

[Kwon Young-chul]: The Jang Yoon-ki case happened before and can happen now, but the key is whether we can verify and uncover it.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: Yes.

[Kwon Young-chul]: This should be the core of the discussion on supplementary investigative power, but former Representative Jung Chung-rae always posts political slogans on Facebook. He posted yesterday too, calling for the "complete deletion of supplementary investigative power, not leaving even an inch in investigations." I see this as nothing more than using a clear-cut stance to appeal to hardline supporters.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: Since you have covered legal affairs for a long time, you have seen many cases. If supplementary investigative power is completely abolished, what part worries you the most?

[Kwon Young-chul]: Honestly, since the prosecution cannot be trusted right now—and of course, this is the prosecution's own doing. The prosecution has done many things wrong, and the Yoon Suk-yeol prosecution administration became one with them instead of checking and monitoring them, so there were clearly many problems. But then, saying "We can't trust the prosecution, so give everything to the police. Let the police handle all investigations"—we have to learn from history.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: Yes.

[Kwon Young-chul]: The Chun Doo-hwan administration was a time when the police were clearly more powerful than the prosecution.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: The National Police Headquarters.

[Kwon Young-chul]: Yes. What happened back then? The torture-death of Park Jong-chol, the sexual torture case at the Bucheon Police Station, and the torture of Chairman Kim Geun-tae all happened during that time. For any agency with compulsory investigative power, whether it is the prosecution or the police, checks and balances must be the default. Then, what monitoring and checking functions do we have against the police?

[Kim Tae-hyun]: None.

[Kwon Young-chul]: To do that, we must have all investigative cases handled by the police transferred, and we must keep at least supplementary investigative power to allow for verification procedures. If we do that, why does that become a way for the prosecution to revive?

[Kim Tae-hyun]: One of the basics of democracy is checks and balances.

[Kwon Young-chul]: Checks and balances, indeed.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: The function of investigative power always remains.

[Kwon Young-chul]: Yes.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: Someone has to do it, but if you give it to the prosecution, and then take it away entirely because you dislike the prosecution and hand it to the police, the same problems that occurred in the prosecution will happen in the police. That's what you're saying, right?

[Kwon Young-chul]: Exactly. Who gave excessive power to the prosecution in the first place? It was the political circle. They kept giving them power to exploit them.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: To the prosecution.

[Kwon Young-chul]: But because of that, the prosecution grew too powerful and did whatever they wanted. They wielded it ruthlessly. That is why the prosecution was disbanded. Now, they want to transfer all of that power directly to the police, who had so many problems in the past.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: Yes.

[Kwon Young-chul]: Well, to solve this problem, instead of concentrating power on one side, it is common sense and natural to have existing state organs mutually check and monitor each other.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: So, as these discussions came up, Minister of the Interior and Safety Yoon Ho-jung expressed regret yesterday and proposed a plan for the Prosecution Office to check the police. What are the specific details of this?

[Kwon Young-chul]: The idea of the Prosecution Office and the National Police Agency checking each other is flawed because the Prosecution Office has absolutely no investigative power. Among the plans announced yesterday, the most eye-catching one is the rotational posting of investigative police. Currently, the prosecution rotates rank-and-file prosecutors every two years and senior prosecutors every year. Even so, all kinds of problems still occurred. While there are only about 2,000 prosecutors, there are about 40,000 investigative police officers.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: Rotating 40,000 people would really...

[Kwon Young-chul]: It's not just a matter of rotating them; we also have to solve the lodging and boarding issues for those 40,000 people.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: Because prosecutors have official residences when they work in local areas. The courts do too.

[Kwon Young-chul]: But are they going to provide official residences for all those police officers?

[Kim Tae-hyun]: For 40,000 people?

[Kwon Young-chul]: Yes. If they are sent away from their place of residence, that has to be resolved.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: Right.

[Kwon Young-chul]: That issue would have to be solved first. Watching Minister Yoon Ho-jung's announcement yesterday, I felt that while it might be better than doing nothing, it was a very hasty proposal. Usually, one of the regular measures the police propose whenever there is a change of administration is making the Police Committee substantial.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: I've heard that a lot.

[Kwon Young-chul]: It has never actually happened. And they are talking about creating a new organization with civilians to do this. Then, the police organization will expand indefinitely. Once supplementary investigative power is abolished, they might even say, "Don't we need a Supplementary Investigation Agency?" It's about continuously expanding the police organization. If we give them infinite power, won't that police power be abused? Any organization with compulsory investigative power, whether it is the prosecution or the police, is bound to abuse it, whether by mistake or on purpose.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: It needs to be split?

[Kwon Young-chul]: Then, the focus of the discussion should be on how to monitor and check it. However, the public is nowhere to be seen in the core of the Democratic Party's current discussions. Excluding the public, they are fighting over whether they are pro-prosecution or pro-police. So, if someone talks about supplementary investigative power, they are labeled "pro-prosecution." Even just the other day, Representative Hong Kee-won and 10 other lawmakers—11 in total—submitted a bill to retain part of the supplementary investigative power. Since then, they have been under immense attack.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: Yes.

[Kwon Young-chul]: And yesterday, Representative Kim Yong-min even argued at a forum for the resignation of Minister Jung Sung-ho and the dismissal of Legislation and Judiciary Committee members Park Gyun-taek and Kim Nam-hee. I really don't know if this is an issue that warrants this level of conflict within the party. In fact, the prosecution has already been disbanded, and by October 2, the disbandment will take effect.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: Yes.

[Kwon Young-chul]: Then, is the issue of supplementary investigative power really so critical as to warrant all this? It's not the essence. I wish they would focus on the essence.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: Reporter, even for non-lawyers among former police officers—since major law firms can hire former commissioners as advisors even if they don't have a lawyer's license—I heard that the value of former police officers has risen significantly.

[Kwon Young-chul]: You know the legal market well. To name just one, YK...

[Kim Tae-hyun]: Specific names...

[Kwon Young-chul]: ...is centered on former police officers. Major law firms have already recruited lawyers from police backgrounds, and it is true that their value is rising. In reality, this is just shifting the influence from former prosecutors to former police officers; it is not improving the judicial system or changing the system for the benefit of the public.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: So, preferential treatment for former officials exists everywhere?

[Kwon Young-chul]: Rather, many criticize that the plan currently pursued by the Democratic Party will make things even more disadvantageous for those without power or money.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: Because while the cases where the prosecution abused its power were mainly against specific classes like conglomerates or politicians, the cases where the police could abuse their power are often those targeting ordinary citizens and the general public. So, you are saying that if the police abuse their investigative power, the public will suffer.

[Kwon Young-chul]: Exactly. Yesterday, one of the alternatives proposed by the Minister of the Interior and Safety was to create a direct investigation unit under the head of the National Investigation Headquarters. The measures proposed by the police always involve creating committees or expanding new organizations. In the end, it's just about increasing the number of police officers. That's how their alternatives go.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: Yes.

[Kwon Young-chul]: That is not right. We should make existing state organs mutually check and monitor each other so that it is convenient for the public.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: I see. If supplementary investigative power is abolished, what makes it so beneficial that the value of former police officers rises? Why do law firms see it that way?

[Kwon Young-chul]: Since the police handle all investigations, they can work closely starting from the investigation stage.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: They can cover it up?

[Kwon Young-chul]: Yes. If you look at the advertising slogans put out by former police officers, you will understand. That is why the current reform of the judicial and criminal system is actually making things more inconvenient for the public, taking more time, and costing more money.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: In any case, you are saying that law firms also believe that as long as the police handle the investigation, they can work on it and cover it up?

[Kwon Young-chul]: Well, that is ultimately how they do business.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: All right. We will stop here today. I have some sad news to share with our listeners. Reporter Kwon Young-chul, who has been hosting "The Man Who Lives with the Law" since last February, will be saying goodbye today. Thank you so much for brightening up the Political Show, and please say a final word to our listeners.

[Kwon Young-chul]: In a way, this might be my last broadcast as a journalist. In any case, it was great to be with you. Thank you.

[Kim Tae-hyun]: That was Senior Reporter Kwon Young-chul. Thank you.

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※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.