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🇰🇷 South Korea /Crime & Justice

Seoul Police Counter Prosecution Claims, Citing Minimal Impact of 'Supplementary Investigations'

From Hankyoreh · (6m ago) Korean Critical tone

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • South Korean police released internal data showing that only 0.7% of cases had their outcomes changed due to prosecutorial intervention.
  • This data counters recent prosecutorial efforts to publicize cases where 'supplementary investigations' led to revised judgments.
  • The police argue that the low percentage indicates prosecutorial intervention is not undermining the principle of separating investigative and prosecutorial powers.

A sharp disagreement is brewing between South Korea's prosecution and police over the necessity and impact of the prosecution's 'supplementary investigation' rights. In a move seen as a direct counter to recent high-profile publicity campaigns by the prosecution highlighting cases where their intervention allegedly corrected police errors, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has released its own internal statistics.

The number of cases where the decision to forward or not forward the case was changed due to the prosecution's request for supplementary investigation or re-investigation was a total of 2,189 cases, accounting for only 0.74% of the total.

— Song Ji-heon, Senior Investigator at Seoul Metropolitan Police AgencyThis statistic is central to the police's argument that prosecutorial intervention is minimal and does not justify undermining the separation of powers.

According to the police's analysis of over 236,000 cases handled last year, only 0.74% saw their initial police decisions (either forwarding to prosecution or dismissing the case) altered following requests for supplementary investigation or re-investigation from prosecutors. Police officials argue this minuscule figure demonstrates that prosecutorial intervention is not a significant factor that warrants overriding the principle of separating investigative and prosecutorial powers. They contend that the narrative of police incompetence, often implied in the prosecution's 'success stories,' is not supported by the data.

The claim that police investigations are insufficient and cases are being buried is inconsistent with the actual data.

— Song Ji-heon, Senior Investigator at Seoul Metropolitan Police AgencyThis statement directly refutes the narrative often promoted by the prosecution regarding the necessity of their oversight to ensure justice.

Furthermore, the police are challenging the prosecution's claim of "identifying true culprits daily through supplementary investigations." A senior investigator from the Seoul police stated that the number of cases where prosecutors requested further investigation with the intent to indict was around 455 last year. Dividing this by the approximately 5,000 investigative police officers in Seoul, the prosecution's claim of "50 cases daily" appears mathematically impossible and exaggerated.

The title of the media reports seems problematic.

— Yoo Han-jong, Head of Women and Juvenile Affairs Division, Seoul Gangdong Police StationThis quote criticizes the way prosecutorial 'model cases' are presented in the media, suggesting the framing misrepresents the collaborative nature of the investigations.

This data release comes at a critical juncture as South Korea prepares for significant legal reforms, including the potential abolition of the Prosecutor's Office and the establishment of new agencies. The government and ruling party are expected to intensify discussions on amending the Criminal Procedure Act, particularly regarding the extent of supplementary investigation rights to be granted to prosecutors in the future. The police's preemptive data release aims to shape this debate by emphasizing the limited scope and impact of current prosecutorial oversight, thereby advocating for a stronger, more independent police investigative function.

The quality of the prosecution's requests for supplementary investigation has improved since last year. I thought about why this happened, and it seems that since prosecutors are hardly conducting direct investigations themselves, they have no choice but to conduct supplementary investigation requests more faithfully in the same amount of time.

— Song Ji-heon, Senior Investigator at Seoul Metropolitan Police AgencyThis observation suggests a shift in prosecutorial focus, potentially leading to better quality requests but also reinforcing the idea that direct investigation is diminishing.
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Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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