Inspection Dept. Chief Warns Investigation Committee Threatens Prosecutors' Independence Over President Lee's Cases

The head of the Inspection Department at the Prosecutors' Office, who oversees inspection duties within the agency, has raised issues once again regarding the activities of the fact-finding investigation team under the Prosecutors' Human Rights Respect Future Committee (Prosecutors' Future Committee), calling them a "serious threat to the independence of prosecutors' duties."

Kim Seong-dong, head of the Inspection Department at the Prosecutors' Office (chief prosecutor), pointed out in a post uploaded the previous day on E-Pros, the prosecutors' internal network, that "Although a significant change in the criminal justice system—the launch of the Prosecutors' Office—has begun, a serious threat to the independence of prosecutors' duties still persists in the form of the 'formation and activities of the fact-finding investigation team.'"

Chief Prosecutor Kim argued that former Minister of Justice Jung Sung-ho's order to form the Prosecutors' Future Committee and the fact-finding investigation team could be in violation of the Prosecutors' Office Act.

He stated that the fact-finding investigation team's independent operation without receiving instructions from superiors, such as the Prosecutor General, amounts to an order that excludes the Prosecutor General's command authority, and thus must be grounded in Article 8 of the Prosecutors' Office Act.

Article 8 of the Prosecutors' Office Act stipulates that the Minister of Justice may direct and supervise only the Prosecutor General with respect to specific cases.

Kim emphasized, "If the 'Minister's order regarding the operation of the investigation body' did not clearly specify that it was an order excluding the Prosecutor General's command authority pursuant to Article 8 of the Prosecutors' Office Act, it is an indirect and evasive order to shirk political responsibility, thereby violating the Prosecutors' Office Act."

He further pointed out that the Prosecutor General's command authority was excluded first without specifying the cases subject to investigation, and that cases were added afterwards, noting that this also "directly contradicts Article 8 of the Prosecutors' Office Act."

Kim criticized, "Issuing a directive to completely exclude the power of command and supervision merely on the grounds that human rights violations and abuse of authority are suspected in specific cases where it has not even been confirmed that the acting Prosecutor General himself, his close associates, or his family are involved constitutes an abuse of the Minister of Justice's command authority."

He expressed concern, saying, "Given that numerous ongoing trial cases are also included, it is possible to institutionalize direct intervention channels by the Ministry of Justice regarding investigation results under the guise of regulations and guidelines," adding, "If actions regarding cases currently on trial are taken based on the results of the illegal formation and activities of the fact-finding investigation team, it is a serious risk and threat to the constitutional prosecutor system."

Kim emphasized, "If you lose professionalism, you lose a little, but if you lose independence, you lose everything. Without independence, you are alive yet dead," and added, "I hope that no actions will be taken against cases currently on trial based on the results of the illegal formation and activities of the fact-finding investigation team."

In July, Chief Prosecutor Kim had already raised the issue of jurisdictional conflict, arguing that the activities of the Prosecutors' Future Committee's fact-finding investigation team fell under the duties of the head of the inspection department.

The Prosecutors' Future Committee was launched last June to uncover the truth behind cases where suspicions of human rights violations or abuse of authority were raised in the process of exercising prosecutorial power, and to recommend measures to prevent recurrence.

As the first batch of cases to be investigated, 7 cases were selected: ▲ the Ssangbangwool illegal remittance to North Korea case, ▲ the Daejang-dong development scandal, ▲ the case involving Kim Yong, former vice president of the Democracy Research Institute, ▲ the Wirye New Town development scandal, ▲ the West Sea public official killing case, ▲ the statistics manipulation case, and ▲ the suspected false reporting on the 'Yoon Suk-yeol defamation' case.

With the addition of 12 cases in August—including ▲ the Seongnam FC case, ▲ the Baekhyeon-dong development scandal, and ▲ the Gyeonggi Province corporate card misuse suspicion case—the total number of cases under investigation increased to 19.

As cases involving President Lee Jae-myeong undergoing trials were all included in the investigation targets, suspicions were raised that this was a preliminary procedure aimed at dropping the prosecutions.

Currently, the fact-finding investigation team composed of prosecutors is examining whether there were human rights violations or abuses of authority in the targeted cases.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.