Vacancies at top investigative posts benefit only criminals

Vacancies at top investigative posts benefit only criminals

With top police and prosecution posts left unfilled for months, concerns are growing over accountability, stability and the country's ability to fight crime.

The retirement of Park Sung-joo, the head of the National Office of Investigation, on Tuesday has left another key law enforcement post vacant. Although Park's retirement was scheduled, no successor has been announced, meaning the investigative body will operate under an acting chief for the time being.

The problem is compounded by the fact that the position of commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency has also remained vacant. Former Commissioner General Cho Ji-ho was removed from office following impeachment proceedings over alleged illegal acts related to the declaration of martial law in December of last year, yet no replacement has been nominated for more than six months.

The prolonged delay has fueled speculation that the presidential office does not trust the current pool of senior police officials eligible for the post. Some suspect it is intentionally buying time to promote a lower-ranking commissioner into the senior rank before appointing that person as police chief.

The prosecution faces a similar leadership vacuum. Since former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung resigned last July, the deputy prosecutor general has served as acting chief for nearly a year. Although the Prosecutors' Office is scheduled to be abolished in October and replaced by the Public Prosecution Office and the Serious Crimes Investigation Office, that is no justification for leaving the top post unfilled for so long.

The new prosecution law explicitly designates the prosecutor general as the head of the future Public Prosecution Office. Appointing a new prosecutor general now would ensure accountable leadership during the transition. Instead, the prolonged acting arrangement has prompted concerns that the government intends to weaken the prosecution's internal leadership and exercise greater control through the Ministry of Justice.

Those concerns deepened after acting Prosecutor General Noh Man-seok offered to resign last November following controversy over the decision to drop an appeal in the Daejang-dong development case. An acting chief, whose future depends on upcoming personnel decisions, inevitably holds less authority than a prosecutor general with a legally protected term.

Long-term vacancies at the top of investigative agencies inevitably weaken responses to major cases and everyday crime alike. If the country's ability to investigate crime deteriorates, the public's basic rights suffer while criminals benefit.