The government also criticized Han Dong-hoon's poor investigation into the leak of investigative data.
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Jeong-jin = On the 19th, the ruling and opposition parties fought over the legitimacy of the abolition of the Public Prosecution Service at the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee's first audit of government affairs, including the Seoul Metropolitan Public Prosecution Office, held since the launch of the Public Prosecution Service.
The People's Power Party criticized the disappearance of the prosecution's investigative function and argued for the need for prosecutors belonging to the Public Prosecution Office to 'resign'. The Democratic Party of Korea countered this by pointing out the harmful effects of the existing prosecution.
Rep. Kwak Gyu-taek of the People Power Party said to Park Cheol-woo, head of the Seoul Central District Public Prosecution Office, who appeared as a witness that day, "It's confusing. If they changed the name to the Public Prosecution Office for political reasons and unilaterally removed all investigative capabilities, regardless of the people's wishes, I think it was right for those who had been in the prosecution for more than 20 years to resign."
He continued, "In the future, problems will arise again when the Public Prosecution Office does not indict cases that should be indicted," and pointed out, "The most representative case was the disposition of former Justice Minister candidate Kim Seung-won."
Rep. Kim Tae-gyu of the same party said, "Korea is becoming a truly ridiculous country," and asked the prosecutors who attended the National Assembly inspection, "I would like to ask whether this is truly the correct form of prosecution reform and whether you do not mind if you do not have supplementary investigative authority."
He continued, "When President Roh Moo-hyun was alive and the regime collapsed, the Democratic Party called itself a 'ruined clan'," and added, "The people who called themselves a 'ruined clan' mourned his death and sought the blade and the cause of it at the Prosecutor's Office. The revenge that had been building up since then was unleashed in this way (by abolishing the Prosecutor's Office)."
On the other hand, Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Yong-min countered, saying that the Public Prosecution Office and the Serious Crimes Investigation Office (Severe Crimes Investigation Office) can share the roles of existing prosecutors.
Rep. Kim said, “In the future, things like reducing the ‘look after Kim Geon-hee’ function and reducing the event manipulation function will have a positive effect.”
He also pointed out to officials of the Public Prosecution Office who were involved in the appellate trial of the Seoul Metropolitan Government official spy manipulation case in the past, "The arrogant attitude of the prosecution in the past, the attitude of 'we did nothing wrong and we have nothing to apologize for' even when the case was manipulated and the victim died, is still maintained."
The Democratic Party also took issue with the fact that independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon disclosed an indictment plan in the process of raising the 'lobbying suspicion' of former Justice Minister candidate Kim, and that the fact-finding investigation into the circumstances surrounding the leak of the investigative materials was insufficient.
Rep. Kim Han-gyu pointed out that the Seoul Western District Public Prosecution Office and others are passing on responsibility for fact-finding to other agencies and asked, “Aren’t they just ping-ponging each other and no one is doing the investigation?”
Rep. Kim claimed that when the suspicion of leakage of prosecution investigation data from the Ssangbangwool Group arose in 2022, the prosecution actively took steps to search and seize related departments and arrest investigators urgently, and criticized, "During the Ssangbangwool incident, they were strictly like lightning, and I think, 'It varies from time to time.'"
