[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] "(Even TV dramas) don't they end early if the ratings are this low?"
Kim Kyung-yul, CEO of Economic Democracy 21, recently wrote this on social media targeting the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency (HOCI), which has repeatedly misfired, including the dismissal of the arrest warrant for Prosecutor Son Joon-sung in connection with the 'accusation inducement' allegations.
Along with Kim, experts from various fields have been continuously criticizing HOCI. They say the investigative conduct shown so far is unprofessional. There are also evaluations that it has already lost political neutrality and its status as the sole institution to check the prosecution has declined. The voices of criticism are expected to intensify this week. There is even a possibility of calls for leadership replacement or abolition.
HOCI launched in January with the determination to break the prosecution's exclusive right to indict and bring a new breeze as a fair investigative agency, but now it is being evaluated not as HOCI but as 'HOGUPYO' (meaning 'empty promise').
Above all, there are no investigative achievements. The first case initiated on April 1, the allegation of improper special recruitment of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon, has not reached a conclusion for three months after being forwarded to the prosecution with a recommendation for indictment. Subsequent cases have yet to reach conclusions such as indictments. It has also shown incompetence in securing the custody of related persons. Regarding the 'accusation inducement' allegations, arrest warrants were requested once and detention warrants twice for the key figure Prosecutor Son Joon-sung, but all were dismissed by the court. The search and seizure conducted on the office of People Power Party lawmaker Kim Woong also suffered a blow to its reputation as the court unusually canceled the decision.
Criticism that the investigation is biased is also incessant. The false report writing case of Prosecutor Lee Kyu-won, which is evaluated as an investigation targeting the ruling party, the obstruction of investigation into Kim Hak-ui's illegal travel ban, and the 'tip-off inducement' allegations against National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won show no noticeable progress.
On the other hand, HOCI is concentrating investigative efforts on three out of four cases in which People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Seok-youl was registered as a suspect. While this could be interpreted as an intention to reach a conclusion as soon as possible ahead of the presidential election, it has only invited distrust by failing to produce clear results.
Amid procedural illegality controversies, materials from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Inspection Department were obtained in the form of a search and seizure, sparking a controversy over 'subcontracted inspection,' and some suspects even filed complaints with the National Human Rights Commission, claiming human rights violations during the investigation process.
There is also an analysis that the leadership's lack of practical investigative experience, as all are former judges, is behind HOCI's repeated missteps in investigations. The current system where the president appoints HOCI prosecutors also seems to need reconsideration, and there are calls to increase the number of investigators.
Despite high public expectations and many applicants in the first prosecutor recruitment, only half of the quota was filled mostly by personnel without investigative experience, and starting investigations against the prosecution, a group of 'special investigation experts,' after only four weeks of training is also cited as a factor leading to the lack of achievements.
Some voices call for the abolition of HOCI. However, given the current National Assembly composition with a ruling party minority, actual abolition is unlikely. Instead, there are realistic arguments for reform through leadership replacement.
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