[사설] Park Bum-gye, Han Myung-sook case should be used to refrain from command

Justice Minister Park Beom-gye, who initiated the investigation and command authority in relation to the case of former Prime Minister Han Myung-sook’s illegal political fund transfer, was in trouble. When the prosecution investigation team made a decision not to be charged with the allegations that the former Prime Minister Han’s conviction was due to false testimony, the prosecutors’ investigation team decided that there was a problem with the prosecution’s decision, and ordered that the prosecution be judged again. Accordingly, the chiefs of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office (at the level of prosecutors) and high prosecutors held an extended meeting, but the conclusion did not change. The meeting was attended by a large number of high-ranking prosecutors selected by the current government, but only two out of 14 responded to the prosecution.

Minister Park, who showed confidence by revealing the scene of reviewing the case documents related to the former Prime Minister Han on a desk full of papers (pictured above), was stigmatized for invoking the investigative command by wrong judgment. The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office reported to the Ministry of Justice the yesterday its conclusion of innocence, which it had repeatedly confirmed. According to common sense, Minister Park should accept this, but opinions are divided as unexpected things have happened from time to time. Right now, there is a rough story in politics.
Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Yong-min fiercely criticized “the prosecution’s twisting of the truth and wrapping up my family will create a system that will disappear from history.” The opposition party called for Park’s resignation, saying, “Those who confuse the people and the country with their wrong judgments must take responsibility for it” (Kim Ye-ryeong, spokesman for the People’s Power).

Secretary Park’s move deepened the gap between the Ministry of Justice and the prosecution. In the passport, former prosecutor general Yoon Seok-yeol has been driven by the cause of all conflicts, but even after his resignation, it shows that the Minister of Justice has abused the investigative command authority that he is not willing to respect the independence of the prosecution.
The purpose of respecting the independence of the prosecution is that Article 8 of the Prosecutor’s Office Act stipulates that’only the prosecutor general shall direct and supervise specific cases’ in relation to the command of the minister. This is the reason why past ministers extremely refrained from conducting investigations against the prosecutor general. So far, of the 68 Justice Ministers, 65 have never exercised command.

Three of the four exercise of the minister’s investigation and command were held by the Moon Jae-in administration. In particular, this exercise of command is a case involving the former Prime Minister, who was active in the same party as Park, and deserves doubt about his political intentions. There are many cases in which suspicion may not be raised against the political background if the attempted to correct the investigation practice as Secretary Park argued. Did all of the Supreme Court Justices have to exercise the right to command the investigation on the case that they judged that at least 300 million won was provided to the former Prime Minister Han?

There are a number of formal routes through which you can challenge the prosecution’s decision. Appeals and financial applications can be filed, and constitutional appeals are also possible. There are many ways for former Prime Minister Han, who is a party, to go directly. If the politician’s minister continues to exert influence on individual cases, ignoring these legal procedures, this is not a reform of the prosecution, but an attempt to seize the prosecution.