[Reporter’s Notebook] As One Special Prosecutor Ends, Another Begins... Who Handles Everyday Cases?

Personnel Shortages Under the Permanent Special Prosecutor Regime
Guaranteeing Citizens' Right to Prompt Investigations

The dictionary definition of an emergency room is a facility where patients in extremely critical and urgent condition can be treated and cared for. This means it should be used in genuinely urgent situations. Not all patients can, nor should, be sent to the emergency room regardless of the severity or urgency of their condition. If that were to happen, would the medical system function properly? The current state of South Korea's investigative system is not much different from this scenario.

Even before the aftermath of the "three major special prosecutors"-the death-in-the-line-of-duty Marine case, the military rebellion, and Kim Keonhee-has faded, the political sphere has introduced new cards: the "second comprehensive special prosecutor" and the "Unification Church special prosecutor." The special prosecutor system was originally intended as a "last resort" to be used when the fairness of a prosecution investigation is in doubt. However, special prosecutors have now become a routine, rather than exceptional, tool. The belief in the omnipotence of special prosecutors has led to the bizarre reality of a "365-day permanent special prosecutor system." The second comprehensive special prosecutor bill proposed by the Democratic Party and the Unification Church special prosecutor bill proposed by the People Power Party and the Reform Party each include investigation periods of up to 170 days. Including the previous six months, this means special prosecutor investigations could continue throughout the entire year.

Given the current investigative system, concentrating personnel and resources on special prosecutors also affects the daily lives of ordinary citizens. Over the past six months, as many as 120 prosecutors have been seconded to special prosecutor teams, leading to a backlog of civil cases. According to the Ministry of Justice's "Status of Long-term Unresolved Prosecutor Cases," from the beginning of this year to the end of July, there were 22,564 unresolved cases lasting more than three months. This is a 23% increase from last year's 18,198 cases.

Even after a special prosecutor investigation concludes, not all prosecutors dispatched return to their original posts. For the military rebellion special prosecutor alone, about 30 prosecutors are expected to remain to handle the maintenance of prosecution. If a large-scale outflow of personnel for additional special prosecutors becomes a reality, there are concerns that frontline prosecutors' offices will reach a "loss of function" stage, where they cannot even perform the minimum investigation and trial functions. The desperate appeals of ordinary citizens whose lives have been shattered by rental fraud and voice phishing are being left unattended in piles of documents at local prosecutors' offices.

The prolonged era of special prosecutors demands a price: an increase in unresolved cases affecting people's livelihoods and delays in the realization of justice. While the political world is engrossed in grand narratives and partisan strife, wielding the sword of special prosecutors, if the minimum public safety services that the state must provide are shaken, who will bear the consequences? Can we allow ordinary citizens to suffer in such a situation? True justice does not exist under the glare of the spotlight. Only when the national investigative system operates normally can citizens receive proper protection. Restoring the right to a "prompt investigation" for those who lie awake at night not knowing when their case will be resolved is the state's real responsibility.