[The Editors' Verdict] A Ruthless Prosecution Is More Frightening Than a Tiger

"Theatrical Investigations" and "Truckload Indictments":
Even the CIO Becomes a Tragicomedy
Investigative Agencies That Know No Restraint

The special investigation division of the Japanese prosecution was renowned for a long time. A book recounting the behind-the-scenes stories of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office’s special division, which brought former Prime Minister Tanaka Kakuei?then a "living power"?to court during the Lockheed scandal investigation in the late 1970s, has been introduced in our country as well. Although it may contain some of the characteristic exaggeration typical of Japanese media, the author, a former legal affairs reporter, described the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office’s special division as the "strongest investigative team." The motto of Ito Shigeki, then Prosecutor General who led the investigation, was "Do not let great evil sleep." The phrase "eradication of great evil" remains one of the favorite expressions used by Korean prosecutors as well as politicians.

However, Japanese media no longer talk about the "strongest investigative team special division." About ten years ago, another legal affairs reporter wrote a book titled Collapse of the Special Division (by Ishizuka Kenji). The author conveyed the scene of the collapse of the special division myth through the words of veteran investigators. "Obsessed with theatrical investigations (leaking information to the media to manipulate public opinion)," "amateurism that fails to see through the other side of information," "the disappearance of skilled investigators, replaced by concocting cases by mixing assumptions and suspicions"....

A few years after the book’s publication, the special division’s downfall continued with the evidence fabrication scandal at the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office’s special division and the "hostage justice" controversy that arose during the investigation of Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office’s special division.

Though it may be presumptuous, I would like to discuss the current state of our investigative agencies. The theatrical investigation method, which involves leaking information to the media to sway public opinion favorably, has been the prosecution’s trademark since the "Roh Moo-hyun investigation." The results are well known. How was the investigation of the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court? The indictment, which was like a novel woven with threads of suspicion and assumptions, and the investigation records that cost tens of millions of won just to copy, resulted in acquittals in all three trials. The investigation of a large corporation chairman, involving dozens of searches and hundreds of summonses, was acquitted in the first and second trials due to issues with "illegally obtained evidence," and was told to be "left in the prosecution’s handbook as a cautionary example for a long time." Yet, they still intend to drag it all the way to the Supreme Court. This is not law; it is violence.

The presidential investigation conducted by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) ? which was criticized as "idle and ineffective" ? is on the verge of ending as a tragicomedy. It started with the solemn theme of arresting a president on charges of rebellion, but now the Constitutional Court, courts, and prosecution are busy "erasing traces of the CIO." The courts pointed out procedural issues and ordered the release of the president detained by the CIO, while the prosecution said, "There were several reports from the police (who clearly have the authority to investigate rebellion charges), so maintaining the indictment should not be a problem." The Constitutional Court stated, "The CIO investigation records were not admitted as evidence in the impeachment trial."

The CIO is also suspected of deliberately omitting (altering) parts of the rebellion investigation records sent to the prosecution and courts to avoid suspicion of "warrant shopping." Should the public watching this laugh or cry?

Yoshinaga Yusuke, the lead prosecutor of the Lockheed case who opened the golden era of Japanese prosecution and later served as Prosecutor General, once said, "The prosecution only cleans the filth accumulated in the ditch; it cannot make clear water flow there." Just as the core norm that sustains democracy is "institutional forbearance," the essence of exercising investigative authority is "restraint." Investigative agencies that are amateurish in skill yet abuse their power without restraint are more frightening than tigers.

Lee Myung-jin, Head of Social Affairs Department