Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office to Refer 'Late Prosecutor Kim Hong-Young Case' to the Prosecution Investigation Deliberation Committee

The representatives of the bereaved family of the late Prosecutor Kim Hong-young, who made an extreme choice after suffering verbal abuse and assault from a superior, are holding a press conference on the morning of the 14th at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul, ahead of submitting an application for convening the Prosecutors' Investigation Deliberation Committee.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The application by the bereaved family of the late Prosecutor Kim Hong-young, who took his own life in May 2016 after suffering verbal abuse and physical assault from his superior, the chief prosecutor, has been accepted for convening a Prosecutor Investigation Deliberation Committee.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Citizens' Committee announced on the 24th that at the referral deliberation committee held on the same day, it resolved to refer the agenda for convening the Prosecutor Investigation Deliberation Committee, requested by Prosecutor Kim’s bereaved family, to the investigation deliberation committee.

A prosecution official stated, “We considered the considerable time elapsed since the accusation and the need to raise awareness about workplace harassment cases.”

However, the chairman of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Citizens' Committee decided to terminate the related procedures without going through a separate referral deliberation committee review for the Korean Bar Association’s application to convene the investigation deliberation committee, citing ‘lack of application rights’ as the reason, according to the official.

Earlier, the representatives of Prosecutor Kim’s bereaved family submitted an application to convene the investigation deliberation committee to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on the 14th.

Since the complaint was filed in November last year, nearly a year has passed without even an investigation of the accused, and the representatives stated that the application was a measure to urge the prosecution to investigate and to alleviate the burden on the prosecutor in charge of handling the case.

Before submitting the application, the representatives told reporters, “Since there has been no significant progress in the investigation after the complainant’s interrogation in March this year, we applied for the investigation deliberation committee to urge a prompt investigation.”

They added, “Although the Ministry of Justice’s inspection resulted in a dismissal, it has not been criminalized. It seems that the prosecutor at the Central District Prosecutors' Office, who currently has to investigate such a case, feels considerable burden regarding the decision to indict or not, so we want to hear the opinions of citizens.”

On the day, the representatives said, “Just as the inspection four years ago, the criminal punishment procedure for the perpetrator does not function properly unless the bereaved family takes the lead and citizens put in effort, which weighs heavily on our hearts. We believe this decision reflects the citizens’ collective sentiment that they cannot trust the prosecution. We hope the prosecution takes this meaning seriously.”

Prosecutor Kim, who worked in the Criminal Division of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, left a will expressing work stress and job pressure in May 2016 and took his own life at the age of 33.

Kim Dae-hyun, former chief prosecutor of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office and Kim’s superior, was dismissed at the Ministry of Justice’s Prosecutor Disciplinary Committee held in August 2016. He filed a lawsuit to cancel the dismissal but was finally defeated by the Supreme Court in March last year.

Lower courts pointed to verbal abuse, humiliating language, and dehumanizing treatment by former Chief Prosecutor Kim as major causes of Prosecutor Kim’s extreme choice, highlighting the personal humiliation involved.

The Korean Bar Association (President Lee Chan-hee) filed a complaint with the prosecution in November last year against former Chief Prosecutor Kim on charges of assault, coercion, and insult.

The case is currently under investigation by the Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Byun Pil-geon).

While the prosecution summoned the Bar Association as the complainant for questioning in March this year, it is known that no investigation has yet been conducted on the accused, former Chief Prosecutor Kim.