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Cho Kuk: Precisely define prosecutors' supplementary investigation rights first
🇰🇷 South Korea /Crime & Justice

Cho Kuk: Precisely define prosecutors' supplementary investigation rights first

From Dong-A Ilbo · () Korean

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Former leader of the Justice Party, Cho Kuk, stated that the focus should be on precisely defining prosecutors' supplementary investigation request rights.
  • He criticized arguments for broadly recognizing these rights without such precise definitions as erroneous, referencing past campaign promises for complete separation of investigation and prosecution.
  • Cho argued that a recent proposed bill by a Democratic Party lawmaker would revert prosecutorial reforms and excessively empower prosecutors, calling it a move reflecting the prosecution's desire to retain power.

Cho Kuk, former leader of the Justice Party, asserted on July 19 that the priority should be the "precise composition" of prosecutors' supplementary investigation request rights. He argued that advocating for broad recognition of these rights without this precise definition is a "mistake."

It is a mistake to argue for broad recognition of prosecutors' supplementary investigation rights without that (precise composition).

— Cho KukFormer leader of the Justice Party, Cho Kuk, commenting on the debate over prosecutors' supplementary investigation rights.

Cho recalled that during the "Yoon Suk-yeol's rebellion," then-presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party had pledged to abolish prosecutors' direct investigation powers and "completely separate investigation and prosecution." He noted that while the Democratic Party recently stated it hadn't formally adopted this as party policy, he considered this disingenuous.

He pointed out that the remaining issue is whether to grant prosecutors supplementary investigation powers beyond just requesting them. Cho criticized Democratic Party lawmakers and commentators for "largely defending" prosecutors' supplementary investigation rights, arguing that the Moon Jae-in administration also recognized these rights. He dismissed this argument as "absurd," ignoring the historical context and parliamentary situation at the time.

The Democratic Party pledged to abolish prosecutors' direct investigation powers and 'completely separate investigation and prosecution.'

— Cho KukRecalling past campaign promises related to prosecutorial reform.

Regarding a recent bill proposed by Democratic Party lawmaker Hong Ki-won, Cho stated it would "effectively restore the pre-investigation referral system" and "significantly expand the scope of prosecutors' supplementary investigation rights." He characterized the bill as "blatantly reflecting the prosecution's will to preserve its authority."

The remaining issue is whether to grant prosecutors supplementary investigation powers beyond just requesting them.

— Cho KukHighlighting the core of the ongoing debate.

Cho posed two key questions: Is prosecutors' direct supplementary investigation right the "only way" to prevent police misconduct and protect victims? Or is it impossible to achieve this by precisely defining the request rights and strengthening police compliance obligations? He concluded that if a "yes" answer to the first question is confirmed for specific cases, only then could supplementary investigation rights be recognized, but not otherwise.

Largely defending prosecutors' supplementary investigation rights... ignoring the historical context and parliamentary situation at the time.

— Cho KukCriticizing the arguments made by some Democratic Party members and commentators.
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Originally published by Dong-A Ilbo in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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