Beom-gye Park, joint inspectorate when investigation command fails… “The prosecution’s direct investigation will try again”

Justice Minister Park Beom-gye expressed a strong dissatisfaction with the prosecution’s conclusion of a non-prosecution in the case of’Han Myeong-sook’s perjury, and said that he would look into the prosecution’s direct investigation practices through a joint inspection between the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, and strongly promote measures for system improvement. He expressed dissatisfaction with the prosecution’s failure to follow the direction of the investigation by the Minister of Justice. The prosecution refuted the conclusion of the non-prosecution, saying, “It was judged according to the law and evidence.”

Inside the prosecution, “I told you to hold a meeting, but I don’t like the conclusion, so I’m holding a pod.” In the future, it is expected that the Minister of Justice’s criticism from the inside and outside of the prosecutors as’Tame the prosecutors’ will continue.

On the 22nd, Minister Park expressed dissatisfaction with the conclusion, saying, “It is questionable whether the purpose of exercising the investigative command authority to pursue procedural justice at a high-ranking prosecutor’s meeting was properly reflected.” He added, “There was a case where the prosecutor of the investigative team, who was suspected of having had to practice testimony, attended the meeting without prior consultation.” Even on the way home from the Gwacheon Government Complex, Minister Park said, “I cannot understand the fact that the prosecutor in charge, who is suspected of having practiced testimony, participates (at the meeting).”

The Ministry of Justice said, “The process of discussion and processing must be fair and reasonable, and at least what appears to be the minimum condition for understanding and acceptance,” said the Ministry of Justice. “I’m sorry to be suspicious.”

In response, the Supreme Prosecutor said, “If the Ministry of Justice requests, we will submit all or part of the recording as a (meeting) transcript.” The director and other committee members did not object,” he refuted. According to Article 7 (2) of the “Guidelines on the Operation of Councils for Reasonable Decision-Making, etc.,” the Supreme Prosecutor’s Preliminary Rule, which Minister Park used as the basis for the convocation of the Directors’ Meeting, prosecutors related to the agenda may be present at the meeting.

Apart from the prosecution’s conclusions, Minister Park pointed out that there was an inappropriate investigation practice by the prosecution during the investigation of the case. He said, “The investigation method for human rights violations that can cause disputes on the fairness of the investigation has been controversial.”

He also said, “Even if the suspicion of a perjury teacher was aside, it was true that there was sufficient circumstances to question whether the inmates were summoned to practice testimony.” The Supreme Prosecutor said, “I deeply sympathize with the point of wrong investigation practices in direct investigation, and I will actively cooperate in joint surveillance.”

Minister Park also revealed a problem with the prosecution’s direct investigation system, and expressed his intention to push forward with measures to improve the system. He said, “In the prosecution’s decision-making process, we will actively review civil control measures in the future to dispel controversies such as’covering my family’.” During the investigation of former Prime Minister Han Myung-sook, the controversy over’whether the investigation team made perjury’ seems to lead to a beating at the prosecution again.

On that day, the Ministry of Justice announced that the prosecution’s internal opposition reached an extreme. “I held a meeting and asked to make a decision, and I was holding a pod because I didn’t like the conclusion,” said one financial district prosecutor of the District Prosecutor’s Office. He said, “The tyranny using the authority of the minister has reached its peak.”

Criticism continued that the contents pointed out by the minister were not correct. One prosecutor’s middle official said, “It’s embarrassing to make a matter of calling the relevant prosecutors as outlined in the rule of thumb, which is the basis for the convocation of the vice president’s meeting,” he said.

Another executive said, “Is it possible to use the expression that the investigation command has been activated with only five days left for the case to close, and that the record was not carefully reviewed?” said, “I want to ask if the Minister really carefully reviewed the records of 6000 pages. “I said.

The Ministry of Justice plans to conduct a high-intensity joint inspection of the case with the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office through the Prosecutor’s Office in the future. The intention is to identify problems with the prosecution’s investigation practices through prosecution and reflect them in the improvement of the investigation system. When asked if there is a reason to proceed with the system improvement through the inspection, he explained, “There are some duties in the office of the inspectorate,” he said. “Because the statute of limitations has passed, we will use it as an opportunity to more objectively diagnose and improve the investigation.” .

Minister Park also met with reporters on the way home from the Ministry of Justice’s Gwacheon Office and said, “(Joint inspection) will be conducted for a considerable period of time and on a considerable scale.” At the end, he emphasized that there is a strong point in improving the system for reform of the prosecution.”

On the 17th, when the great swordsman dismissed the charges against the inmate A, etc., who was suspected of being convicted of’Han Myung-sook’s perjury’, Minister Park led the investigation, saying, “Hold a meeting of the chiefs of the greatsword to reconsider the case.” As a result, Prosecutor General Cho Nam-gwan held a meeting of the chiefs including six high prosecutors across the country on the 19th and maintained the conclusion of the non-prosecution.

[정희영 기자 / 류영욱 기자]
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