Memorial plaque for the late Prosecutor Kim Hong-young displayed at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office. / Provided by the bereaved family
[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] A former chief prosecutor, who was the superior of the late Prosecutor Kim Hong-young, who died by suicide in May 2016, has been brought to trial on charges of assaulting Kim.
It has been ten days since the Prosecutorial Investigation Deliberation Committee recommended the indictment of former Chief Prosecutor Kim on the 16th, and four years since the incident occurred.
On the 26th, the Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Byun Pil-geon) indicted former Chief Prosecutor Kim Dae-hyun without detention on assault charges.
The prosecution dismissed the charges of coercion against former Chief Prosecutor Kim due to ‘lack of evidence’ and the charges of insult due to ‘lack of prosecutorial rights’.
The prosecution applied assault charges against former Chief Prosecutor Kim for hitting Prosecutor Kim, who was a fellow prosecutor in the same department, four times between March 31 and May 11, 2016, including at company dinners and inside taxis on the way home from dinners, with each incident involving between one and six strikes.
However, the prosecution judged that it was legally difficult to establish the crime of coercion regarding former Chief Prosecutor Kim’s reprimand at a restaurant during a fellow prosecutor’s wedding in February 2016, where he told others to “find a room where prosecutors can eat.”
Regarding the insult charges, which alleged that former Chief Prosecutor Kim made insulting remarks five times from February to May of the same year, the prosecution decided ‘lack of prosecutorial rights’ because the complaint was not filed by a legitimate complainant and the statute of limitations had expired, failing to meet the requirements for prosecution.
Earlier, the Prosecutorial Investigation Deliberation Committee, convened at the request of Prosecutor Kim’s bereaved family, recommended indicting former Chief Prosecutor Kim on assault charges and non-prosecution on insult and coercion charges to the responsible prosecutor, while also advising a review of whether the facts of the insult charges could constitute defamation or assault, the prosecution stated.
Meanwhile, the bereaved family expressed, “We believe it is fortunate that the criminal punishment for the perpetrator, which was not carried out after the 2016 Supreme Prosecutors’ Office inspection, has finally been made following the recommendation of the Prosecutorial Investigation Deliberation Committee,” and added, “As we requested the convening of the Prosecutorial Investigation Deliberation Committee, we hope this indictment decision will become a new milestone in eradicating workplace harassment in our society.”
Prosecutor Kim left a suicide note expressing work stress and job pressure while working in the Criminal Division of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office in May 2016 and died by suicide at the age of 33.
Former Chief Prosecutor Kim, who was Prosecutor Kim’s superior, was dismissed at the Ministry of Justice’s Prosecutor Disciplinary Committee held in August 2016, filed a lawsuit to cancel the dismissal, but ultimately lost at the Supreme Court in March last year.
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