Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Assigns 'Jo Hee-yeon Case' to Criminal Division 1... Superintendent Jo's Side Requests Prosecution Investigation Deliberation Committee Convening
[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit (HCIC) has requested prosecution from the prosecution regarding Seoul Mayor of Education Cho Hee-yeon, who was involved in the controversy over the 'special recruitment of dismissed teachers,' marking the conclusion of the HCIC's first case since its launch. The education office of Mayor Cho has immediately reacted strongly, and the final decision on whether to prosecute Mayor Cho will be made by the prosecution.
According to the legal community on the 4th, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, which received the prosecution request and case records from the HCIC the previous day, assigned the case to the Criminal Division 1, headed by Chief Prosecutor Lee Seon-hyeok, considering the importance of the matter, and will begin reviewing the HCIC investigation records from next week.
However, if the prosecution finds insufficient evidence after reviewing the case records, it may conduct its own reinvestigation. Depending on the investigation situation, there is also a possibility that the prosecution may request the HCIC to conduct a reinvestigation or supplementary investigation.
In response to reporters' questions during the briefing on the Cho Hee-yeon case the previous day about how the HCIC would respond if the prosecution decides not to indict or requests supplementary investigation, an HCIC official said, "Basically, we believe the prosecution will respect the HCIC's decision," adding, "While we acknowledge the need for cooperation between the investigating prosecutor and the prosecuting prosecutor in cases where investigation and prosecution are separated like this case, we have no intention of complying with supplementary investigations as in the relationship between judicial police officers and prosecutors." Due to this, if the prosecution requests supplementary investigation from the HCIC, another conflict may arise.
According to the HCIC Act, the HCIC has the authority to investigate and prosecute only judges, prosecutors, and police officers of superintendent rank or higher among high-ranking officials' crime cases. Therefore, the final disposition on whether to prosecute Mayor Cho and the maintenance of the prosecution after indictment will be handled by the prosecution.
Mayor Cho's office has stated that the HCIC's prosecution opinion is "an unfair conclusion and expects the prosecution to reveal the truth." They argued, "According to the HCIC's logic, it would be impossible to resolve past issues, and the reinstatement of dismissed workers, which is widespread in society, would be impossible. The HCIC held the prosecution review committee secretly without granting the suspect and defense counsel the right to present their opinions and reached an unfair conclusion."
Meanwhile, Mayor Cho's office has also announced plans to request the convening of the prosecution's investigation review committee. A lawyer for Mayor Cho said, "The HCIC judged that Mayor Cho Hee-yeon unduly influenced teacher appointments but did not present the grounds or evidence to support this, making it illegal," adding, "Since the right to participate and testify in the HCIC's prosecution review committee was blocked, we plan to request the convening of the prosecution's investigation review committee to prove the absence of charges."
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