Unprecedented has become a favorite word when the Korean press describes what is taking place in the ranks of the prosecution these days. The situation has become so serious that it has reached the point where the top prosecutor and his top lieutenant clashed head-on in the middle of the night ― for the first time.
At last, prosecutors, senior and junior alike, revolted to ask Prosecutor General Han Sang-dae to step down voluntarily and he promised to tender his resignation today. It’s baffling to see the nation’s most powerful law enforcement agency slip into such an insurmountable chaos.
The prosecution’s latest brouhaha came after Han ordered the audit department of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office (SPO) to launch an internal inspection into Choi Jae-kyong, the head of the SPO’s all-powerful Central Investigation Unit (CIU). Choi was suspected of having advised Kim Kwang-joon, a senior prosecutor who had been detained for receiving bribes from a conglomerate and a notorious swindler, on how to deal with the media.
Choi, Han’s right-hand man, explained that he just gave advice as Kim’s Seoul National University classmate, alleging ``I never did anything shameful. It’s not against the law.’’
A closer look shows that the chief prosecutor may have tried to make a scapegoat of Choi, who had been fiercely opposing the disbandment of the CIU, the powerful team that exclusively probes political heavyweights and bigwigs, to diffuse the rising antagonism against the prosecution.
Given that the integrity of the prosecution has been undermined significantly amid a string of scandals involving prosecutors, it’s not wise for Han to be reluctant in giving up his post. Nor must President Lee Myung-bak attempt to retain him, although it would be difficult to pick a successor as he approaches the end of his five-year tenure.
Even without the latest incident, Han appears to be completely out of favor among his subordinates. Under these circumstances, prosecutors won’t be able to perform their duties properly under his command.
It’s lamentable that the prosecution has fallen into this miserable state but that’s what it brought on itself. There is no denying the rationale to reform the prosecution, which has been under constant criticism for decades for showing subservience to those in power but wielding power over ordinary people.
The top prosecutor reportedly plans to announce a package of reform measures today aimed at seeing the prosecution reborn. But we doubt that the package will work to lead the prosecution out of the current quagmire, considering the public’s lost confidence in the law enforcement agency under Han’s control.
As things stand now, the major presidential candidates need to be more proactive in reforming the prosecution, if elected, as they pledged earlier. We hope that the next president will give up any temptation to take advantage of the prosecution to oppress his or her political opponents and ultimately make it independent and neutral.