Han Dong-hoon: 'The world created by the Democratic Party will see a surge of second Jang Yoon-gi incidents'

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon has sharply criticized the Democratic Party's push to completely abolish the prosecution's supplementary investigation rights. He warned that such a move would create a society ripe for repeated "Jang Yoon-gi"-like incidents, where police officers, working closely together for extended periods, could monopolize investigations without any form of checks or balances.

Han highlighted the differing rotation systems for prosecutors and police. Prosecutors, he noted, change postings nationwide every two years (or one year for deputy chiefs and above) and are generally prohibited from working in their home regions. In contrast, police officers typically do not face nationwide rotation and often serve in their home regions for over a decade.

This disparity, Han argued, creates a situation where police could potentially engage in misconduct or collusion, as exemplified by the "Jang Yoon-gi" case. In that incident, the father of a murder victim, who was also a police officer, had reportedly worked at the same police station for 18 years since joining the force in 1999. The case sparked widespread debate about inadequate police investigations and potential collusion.

The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee has begun reviewing a bill to abolish the prosecution's supplementary investigation rights, driven by the Democratic Party. However, internal party discussions suggest potential disagreements on the matter.

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In a world created by the Democratic Party, where only police officers who have worked together for a long time monopolize investigations and are not subject to any checks, second and third Jang Yoon-gi incidents are bound to occur.