Handonghun's 'Yeouido Grim Reaper' Revival
Yoon Seok-yeol Team Expected to Be Fully Deployed
Lee Won-seok Mentioned as Deputy Prosecutor General... Head of Planning and Coordination at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office During Yoon's Tenure
Boost in Daejang-dong and Blacklist Investigations
Han Dong-hoon, Minister of Justice, is performing the national ceremony at the inauguration ceremony held at the Ministry of Justice in the Government Complex Gwacheon on the 17th.
[Asia Economy Legal Affairs Specialist Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] On the 18th, Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon established the Financial and Securities Crime Joint Investigation Unit (Joint Investigation Unit), known as the "Yeouido Grim Reaper," which he declared to relaunch at his inauguration ceremony the day before, at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office.
In the first personnel appointments scheduled for that day, it is expected that the so-called "special investigation experts" within the prosecution, known as the "Yoon Seok-yeol faction," will be fully deployed, accelerating investigations into power-related crimes and economic crimes.
The newly launched Joint Investigation Unit is an expanded and reorganized version of the existing Financial Securities Crime Investigation Cooperation Unit system, consisting of a total of 48 members including prosecutors and employees from related agencies such as the Financial Supervisory Service. Jeong Hee-do, head of the Important Economic Crime Investigation Division at the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office (Judicial Research and Training Institute class 31), is reported to be appointed as the unit chief.
In addition to the prosecution, the Joint Investigation Unit will conduct investigations on a "Fast Track" basis through collaboration with outstanding personnel dispatched from various related agencies such as the National Tax Service, Financial Supervisory Service, and Korea Exchange.
Since its launch in May 2013 until its abolition, the Joint Investigation Unit achieved the result of bringing nearly 1,000 offenders who disrupted the capital market order to trial.
In 2017, the Joint Investigation Unit received 81 cases and handled all of them; in 2018, it handled 64 out of 76 cases; and in 2019, it handled 38 out of 56 cases, showing case handling rates of 82% and 58% respectively. However, in 2020, when the unit was abolished, the case handling rate plummeted to 13% (8 out of 58 cases). This is why the business community cannot help but be tense about the unit's revival.
In his inauguration speech the day before, Minister Han warned, "Offenders who harm the common people will be held accountable according to their crimes," and assured, "We will restore the belief among market participants that rules will be observed again."
Minister Han plans to carry out personnel appointments for senior prosecution officials, including the Deputy Prosecutor General of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office who will lead the prosecution organization until the new Prosecutor General is appointed, the head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office who will lead investigations into major cases such as the Daejang-dong lobbying scandal, and the Director of the Prosecution Bureau at the Ministry of Justice responsible for prosecution personnel and budget.
Lee Won-seok, Chief Prosecutor of Jeju District Prosecutors' Office (class 27), is a strong candidate for Deputy Prosecutor General; Song Kyung-ho, a prosecutor at Suwon High Prosecutors' Office (class 29), for head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office; and Shin Ja-yong, head of the Litigation Department at Seoul High Prosecutors' Office (class 28), for Director of the Prosecution Bureau.
All three are representative special investigation experts within the prosecution. Lee served as the head of the Planning and Coordination Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office assisting President Yoon Seok-yeol when he was Prosecutor General; Song led the investigation into former Minister Cho Kuk as the 3rd Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office; and Shin worked closely with Minister Han as head of the Special Investigation Division 1 when Han was the 3rd Deputy Chief Prosecutor at the Central District Prosecutors' Office.
After Minister Han organizes the investigation command lines of frontline prosecutors' offices through sequential personnel appointments ahead of the Prosecutor General's appointment, which is expected to take more than a month, investigations into major cases are expected to proceed with unprecedented intensity and speed.
Minister Han is likely to revise the Presidential Decree on the Organization of the Prosecutors' Office to restore special investigation divisions and economic crime task forces at frontline prosecutors' offices, which were significantly downsized under the previous administration, laying the groundwork for intensive investigations.
Investigations into power-related corruption cases such as the "Daejang-dong lobbying" allegations being investigated by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, the "Ministry of Industry blacklist" case under investigation by the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, and the "Seongnam FC sponsorship" case being investigated by the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office are also expected to resume in earnest.
The police's raid on Seongnam FC and Doosan Construction the day before can be seen as a prelude signaling that the prosecution and police have entered into a competition to produce investigative results amid the "complete prosecution investigation abolition" (Geomsu Wanbak) phase. There is also speculation about the possibility of reinvestigation into the previous administration's Blue House's alleged interference in the Ulsan mayoral election and the alleged manipulation of the economic feasibility evaluation of the Wolseong nuclear power plant.
The prosecution is also likely to focus investigative efforts on embezzlement cases and cryptocurrency fraud cases occurring recently in corporations and banks to assert its presence. Earlier this year, the largest embezzlement case in a listed company’s history occurred at Ostem Implant, involving approximately 221.5 billion KRW, followed by large-scale embezzlement incidents at Kyeyang Electric (24.5 billion KRW), Gangdong District Office in Seoul (11.5 billion KRW), and Woori Bank (61.4 billion KRW).
In March, a team leader-level employee at LG Uplus embezzled tens of billions of won and disappeared, and at Amorepacific, three sales staff embezzled 3.5 billion KRW by diverting payments received from clients after supplying products.
Meanwhile, Minister Han is expected to initiate constitutional litigation, including filing a constitutional dispute over the revised Prosecutors' Office Act and Criminal Procedure Act containing the "complete prosecution investigation abolition" provisions, which he previously stated have unconstitutional elements. At the same time, he is likely to prepare measures to maintain and expand prosecution investigative authority through revisions to subordinate laws such as Presidential Decrees.
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