[The Editors' Verdict] Shin Hyun-soo and the Success or Failure of Prosecutorial Reform

Shin Hyun-soo, Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs at the Blue House, ultimately did not retract his resignation. In any case, whether to accept the resignation of a presidential aide is left entirely to the president. Shin showed minimal courtesy by allowing the Blue House to announce that his position depended solely on the president's will. This also means that Shin has not let go of his sense of betrayal toward the administration that broke its promise to guarantee his role in prosecutorial reform. He is likely to leave the Blue House when the issue quiets down.

The question is why President Moon Jae-in repeated the personnel mistake of appointing Yoon Seok-youl, a prosecution loyalist, as Prosecutor General. The fact that Shin, also a former prosecutor, had said he “could not help but reflect the prosecution’s stance” indicates the predictability of this scandal. Nevertheless, if Shin thought he would be different from Yoon Seok-youl, that turned out to be a misjudgment.

Startled by the “Shin Hyun-soo scandal,” Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye hastily announced prosecutorial personnel changes on the 22nd that largely accepted the stance of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office (or Shin’s opinion). On the same day, President Moon intervened in the legislative work to transfer the remaining six investigative powers held by the prosecution to the Serious Crime Investigation Agency, attempting to manage the situation. The prosecutorial reform, which had been progressing at lightning speed under the current administration, was thus put on hold.

The aides pushing prosecutorial reform around President Moon probably thought: in five months, Prosecutor General Yoon’s term will end; the successor could be a safer figure or even a non-prosecutor (this option, recommended last year by the Ministry of Justice and Prosecution Reform Committee, is actually being discussed within the ruling party). Then, a large-scale reshuffle of prosecutors would be carried out, the Serious Crime Investigation Agency established, and even the prosecution’s right to request warrants revoked, completing the reform according to schedule. During those five months, with COVID-19 vaccinations accelerating, disaster relief funds being provided, and a compensation system implemented, the approval rating?currently stuck in the low 40% range?would rise, providing momentum to complete prosecutorial reform.

This is one of the few possible options in the face of the unexpected variable of the Shin Hyun-soo scandal, but it also carries a high risk of failure. It is a kind of gamble that can only succeed if numerous conditions materialize. The greatest risk of this gamble is that it provides the prosecution with a foothold for a comeback. Prosecutor General Yoon has gained valuable time to speed up investigations involving the core of the administration. Many in the prosecution and the public believe that the current administration’s prosecutorial reform has deviated from its original intent, becoming a means to block investigations into the living powers and to prevent retaliatory investigations after the term ends.

Therefore, the Shin Hyun-soo scandal is a symbolic and challenging event that appears at a crossroads: can our society have a democratically controlled prosecution? Can prosecutorial abuse be prevented to guarantee human rights and break the unfortunate cycle of imprisoning former presidents? If the current administration’s prosecutorial reform remains an unfinished task just before its destination, the causes of the Shin Hyun-soo scandal and the mistakes made during its resolution will be painfully recorded in history. And no matter how noble the cause, if procedural legitimacy and transparency are not accepted by the people, the only costly lesson we will gain is that success cannot be achieved. The reason for worrying about this in advance is that there is something common flowing through the series of approaches this administration has maintained whenever cause and values have clashed, from Cho Kuk to Shin Hyun-soo.

Shin Beom-su, Chief of Political Affairs