During the 4 Years of the Moon Jae-in Administration, the Prosecution Was Marred by 'Civil War'

Participation Solidarity 'Prosecutor Report'
Self-investigation and Prosecutors Attacking Prosecutors

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Over the four years of the Moon Jae-in administration, the prosecution was marked by so-called ‘prosecutorial civil war,’ where prosecutors attacked each other due to ‘self-investigation’ and conflicts with the Ministry of Justice.

Oh Byung-doo, Director of the Judicial Monitoring Center at People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (and professor at Hongik University Law School), summarized the investigations conducted by the prosecution during the Moon Jae-in administration in the ‘Four-Year Prosecution Report of the Moon Jae-in Government’ published by People’s Solidarity on the 9th, defining it as a "prosecutorial civil war triggered by self-investigation." He analyzed, "A characteristic of the prosecution investigations under this administration was active investigations into the living power and numerous investigations of prosecutors by other prosecutors," adding, "The conflict between former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae and former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl led to patterns of attack and defense among prosecutors, which was distinctive."

He continued, "This prosecutorial civil war itself proved that requests for the prosecution’s political neutrality are difficult to maintain solely through the prosecution’s self-purification ability or independence in personnel matters," criticizing the situation. Director Oh argued that the solution should be to separate investigation and prosecution, establish an independent investigative agency, and expand civic control over prosecutorial authority.

The report evaluated the prosecution reforms under the Moon Jae-in government as "still incomplete." While acknowledging the significance of establishing the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), preparing the adjustment of investigative authority between the police and prosecution, and the Ministry of Justice’s efforts to de-prosecutorialize, it stated that the fact that prosecution reform escalated into internal conflicts between the Minister of Justice and the Prosecutor General was a mistake.

Han Sang-hee, Executive Committee member of the Judicial Monitoring Center (professor at Konkuk University Law School), pointed out, "Our country’s prosecution system consists of two organizations: the Ministry of Justice and the prosecution office as an external agency, but the conflict between the two has not been properly approached structurally." He added, "The reform efforts for the Ministry of Justice and prosecution have completely missed democratization," and said, "The divisive behavior of imposing one-sided claims on the other side while only raising slogans for prosecution reform overwhelmed the reform agenda itself."

The report selected 22 notable prosecution investigations during the four years of the Moon Jae-in government, including ‘Illegal travel ban on former Vice Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui’ and ‘Suspicion of manipulation in the economic feasibility evaluation of the Wolseong Unit 1 nuclear power plant.’ Among these, seven cases involved allegations of abuse of authority and illegal acts by the government and high-ranking officials, the most frequent category, followed by six cases of misconduct allegations involving high-ranking officials and politicians, four cases involving conglomerates and corporate misconduct, and two cases involving prosecutor misconduct.