PSPD in English Civil-Political 2002-08-27   1388

Introduction of a prosecutorial office for special investigations & a reform in prosecution

Prejudice on behalf of the prosecution has not changed much since the days when authoritarian leaders used it as a tool to tighten control on their political opponents. The prosecution is still being accused of abusing and misusing its power, and these accusations are not misplaced. This is evident by the performance of the independent counsel, which has on several occasions done what the prosecution failed to do in connection with the scandal involving the corporate raider.

These are some examples that present this situation: Kim Hong-up, President Kim, Dae-Jung’s second son, is now in custody for accepting about 4 million dollars involving dubious sources and purposes from nine companies, including Hyundai and Samsung. Kim’s youngest son, Hong-gul, is also on trial for allegedly taking bribes from businessmen in exchange for arranging business favors. Almost exactly five years ago, Kim, Hyun-chul, the favorite son of former President Kim, Young-sam, was under the same media spotlight for corruption and tax evasion charges. Kim, Hyun-chul was jailed and his father apologized to the public. This deplorable repetition of history tells much about our politics and power structures, especially with the prosecution.

There have been many power-related scandals, called “gate”, such as: Jung Hyun-jun gate, Lee Yong-go gate, and Jin Sung-hyun gate. Whenever the prosecutors faced these scandals, they used to emphasize the “principle” – there is no exemption before the law. However, they always left room for doubt in upcoming probes. Now, some senior prosecutors have been criticized for improper handling of various corruption cases and even the top prosecutor’s brother is involved in a financial scandal. This clearly shows that there is a systematic problem in the prosecution’s structure and judicial rationality.

Currently, in the Kim, Dea-Jung administration, the prosecution has not differentiated itself from the past. For example, the Lee Yong-ho gate case represents our prosecutor’s behavior. Lee Yong-ho got accused of bribery, and Kim, Te-jung, the nation’s former top prosecutor, was in charge of representing him in court. Afterward, it was revealed that Kim, Te-jung received 100 million won from Lee, Yong-ho. He failed to take proper judicial action, and now the top executives’ within the prosecution have buried this case. This is why PSPD has demanded reform within the prosecutorial system. Otherwise, it is evident that our nation will experience a second or third Lee Yong-ho gate.

The prosecution should announce a method for purifying the system and then implement it strongly. For this, PSPD believes that institutional changes are needed to guarantee the prosecution’s political neutrality, and also to investigate and hold accountable the power elites’ criminality. The proposals are: permanent legislation regarding an independent counsel; the creation of a prosecutorial office for special investigations; the introduction of parliamentary hearings on general nominees for prosecutor; and an abolishment of unreasonable regulations – such as the principle that all the prosecutors within the office must adhere to a unified opinion.

A prosecutorial office for special investigations should be institutionalized to enable the prosecution to be independent from political pressure. The Central Investigation Department in the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s office is responsible for dealing with national cases or political affairs. However, in investigating a party in power or conglomerate corruption, their unjust and unequal investigation has brought up nation-wide suspicion of their role. They continuously state that they already have a mechanism in place for inspecting inner absurdities. Yet, there has barely been any evidence of it because absolute obedience within the system dominates the prosecutorial structure. Thus, it is not expected that there will be investigations or a judicial settlement on the prosecution’s arbitrariness and irrationality. A prosecutorial office for special investigations, independent from the current system’s structure, can be an alternative for investigating the criminality of politicians, high-ranked officers, and any other institutions. If the high officials are held accountable for their criminality, the Korean people will be given a chance to witness a more transparent society and what the “rules” should be.

PSPD

정부지원금 0%, 회원의 회비로 운영됩니다

참여연대 후원/회원가입


참여연대 NOW

실시간 활동 SNS

텔레그램 채널에 가장 빠르게 게시되고,

더 많은 채널로 소통합니다. 지금 팔로우하세요!