PCA: "Direct Supervision of Prosecutors Investigating the Gobal Saju Case Unavoidable... Prosecution Department Not Excluded"

Kim Jin-wook, Chief of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials./Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit (HCIC) stated that it was practically inevitable for the prosecutors who handled the investigation of the so-called 'report solicitation' case to be in charge of maintaining the prosecution, and that it does not mean that the prosecution department was excluded.

They also emphasized that due to the revision of related regulations abolishing the 'selective filing system' and switching to a 'full filing system' where all cases are filed initially, it is the principle that investigative prosecutors directly handle prosecution maintenance except for cases where the chief has decided to separate investigation and prosecution.

On the 5th, an HCIC official responded this way to questions regarding recent articles stating that "HCIC creates a prosecution department and excludes it from trials."

The previous day, a media outlet pointed out that Kim Jin-wook, the chief of HCIC, made remarks supporting the separation of investigation and prosecution, saying that "the separation of investigation and prosecution aligns with the principle" in relation to the 'Complete Prosecution Reform' law, but in fact, in cases prosecuted by HCIC such as the 'report solicitation' case and the 'former Chief Prosecutor Kim Hyung-jun bribery' case, investigative prosecutors directly participate in trials without involving prosecution department prosecutors.

In fact, at the first preparatory hearing of the 'report solicitation' case held on the 27th of last month, Lee Dae-hwan, acting head of Investigation Division 1, along with prosecutors Lee Seung-gyu and Kim Sook-jung from the same division, appeared in court on behalf of HCIC.

Regarding this, an HCIC official said, "Before the revision of the case handling regulations in March, when filing a prosecution, all records were transferred from the investigation division to the prosecution department, and the prosecution department prosecutor decided whether to file the prosecution under the chief's direction. However, after switching to the full filing principle, if we followed the same procedure, all cases would be transferred to the prosecution department, making it unmanageable."

He continued, "Currently, the chief reviews the content, importance, and investigation status of the case and then has the prosecution department re-examine it. Only cases that the prosecution department judges as better to decide on prosecution filing are transferred to the prosecution department. In other words, only cases that the chief decides as 'separation of investigation and prosecution cases' are transferred to the prosecution department, and the remaining cases are handled directly by the investigative prosecutors."

The official added, "The report solicitation case has an enormous amount of records, making it difficult for one prosecution department prosecutor, who did not participate in the investigation, to read tens of thousands of pages of case records and maintain the prosecution. Although this has been widely reported, since this case has many issues, it is appropriate for the investigative prosecutor who understands the overall flow and context of the investigation to handle it directly."

He emphasized, "It is absolutely not the case that the prosecution department was intentionally excluded or sidelined."

Currently, the HCIC prosecution department is headed by Chief Prosecutor Choi Seok-gyu, who concurrently serves as head of Investigation Division 3, and has only one prosecutor, Choi Jin-hong.

An HCIC official said, "In the future, there may be cases where the prosecution department files prosecution. Although one prosecutor may seem insufficient to handle cases that the chief asks the prosecution department to review again, various possibilities can be considered. For example, issuing a work support order to another prosecutor from the investigation division who was not involved in the investigation to assist the prosecution department in maintaining prosecution."