Kim Jongwoo, Gwangju Chief Prosecutor: "Abolishing Supplementary Investigations Would Collapse the Justice System"

Not About Protecting Prosecutorial Power
Cross-Checking Inadequate Police Investigations
Presenting Exemplary Cases Such as Insurance Fraud

Kim Jongwoo, chief prosecutor of the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office, held a press briefing in the main conference room of the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office in Dong-gu, Gwangju, on the afternoon of the 23rd, urging the retention of prosecutors' supplementary investigative powers. Photo by Min Hyunki

Amid discussions in political circles on abolishing the prosecution's supplementary investigative authority, Kim Jongwoo, Chief Prosecutor of the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office, made a strong appeal for maintaining this authority, calling supplementary investigations "the final safety net of the criminal justice system."

At a press conference held on the 23rd in the main conference room of the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office, Chief Prosecutor Kim stated, "Supplementary investigations are by no means an authority that the prosecution is trying to cling to, and they are an entirely different matter from targeted or distorted investigations, which rightly deserve criticism."

He stressed that supplementary investigations serve as an essential function to keep the confirmation bias of the primary investigative agency in check through cross-verification. Chief Prosecutor Kim expressed concern, saying, "In cases involving detention or those close to the statute of limitations, it is physically impossible to send the case back to the police," and added, "If the supplementary investigation system disappears, the criminal justice system itself could collapse, and the damage will fall squarely on innocent citizens."

At the press conference, Prosecutor Kim Bomin of the Public Investigation Department of the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office presented five exemplary cases from prosecutors' offices nationwide in which the substantive truth was uncovered through supplementary investigations.

One representative case was a habitual insurance fraud case worth about 220 million won uncovered by the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office in 2022. At the time, the police had treated a traffic accident involving a man in his 20s, identified as Mr. A, as a simple accident and decided not to refer the case to the prosecution. However, after receiving the case file, the prosecution detected suspicious circumstances in Mr. A's statements and ordered a supplementary investigation. As a result, it was revealed that seven people had conspired to cause intentional accidents on 17 separate occasions, and two ringleaders were indicted and detained.

Other cases introduced included one from the Tongyeong Branch Office, in which a stepfather who had been detained and referred on charges of sexually molesting his two stepdaughters was cleared of false accusations through a re-examination of DNA by the prosecution, leading to the arrest of the real perpetrator, who was sentenced to five years in prison; and cases from the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office and the Jangheung Branch Office, which conducted full reinvestigations into group sexual assault cases that had either not been referred to the prosecution or had suspects undercharged, ultimately indicting numerous previously hidden accomplices.

Chief Prosecutor Kim argued, "The overarching principle of prosecutorial reform, namely the separation of investigation and indictment, can be fully achieved simply by blocking and controlling prosecutors from initiating investigations," and emphasized, "Strengthening evidence through supplementary investigations is precisely in line with the purpose of prosecutorial reform, which is to ensure that prosecutors faithfully bring and maintain indictments."

Meanwhile, the National Assembly is set to handle follow-up prosecutorial reform bills that would split the Prosecutors' Office into a Serious Crimes Investigative Agency and a Prosecution Service. The key point of contention, whether prosecutors at the Prosecution Service will retain supplementary investigative authority, is expected to be discussed in earnest after the local elections in June.