Political neutrality of the prosecution is doubted

Son Jun-sung, a senior prosecutor of the Daegu High Prosecutors’ Office, received a 1-year jail sentence in the first trial on charges of abuse of authority for asking his former colleague and lawmaker Kim Woong of the People Power Party (PPP) to file a complaint against influential figures aligned to the Democratic Party (DP) — Rhyu Si-min, former chairman of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation, and former lawmaker Choi Kang-wook. Although the court stopped short of having him immediately arrested, it did find him guilty of abusing his authority as a prosecutor.

Son, who supervised investigation intelligence at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office at the time, was accused of having shared an internal complaint on figures hostile toward the prosecution with external figures in April 2020. The incident was exposed in September 2021 after a former deputy chair of the campaign committee of the conservative party tipped it off to the media upon receiving the complaint file from Rep. Kim. (The name of the party later changed to the PPP.)

The complaint described then-senior prosecutor Yoon Suk Yeol, his wife Kim Kun Hee, and his subordinate Han Dong-hoon, now PPP interim leader, as victims of defamation. The Seoul Central District Court concluded that prosecutor Son had leaked confidential material he acquired while on duty. The timing and details of investigation on the two influential figures matched the movements of Son and his subordinates identified by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials. Son denied the charge of power abuse, but he could not present convincing evidence. The bench cleared Son on the count of violating the Public Office Election Law, but nevertheless found him breaching “political neutrality.”

Despite the charge, Son got promoted last September while on trial. Though the promotion was made before the court delivered him a guilty ruling, it still could not be normal. His action is controversial in both cases, whether he had or had not reported his own act to his boss, or prosecutor general, as an intelligence officer. The Telegram file clearly had his name as the sender. The prosecution still promoted him, inviting an impeachment motion by the Democratic Party in December. The prosecution finds its position more awkward now that the court found him guilty.

Regardless of the higher court trials waiting for him, the prosecution must use the momentum to reaffirm its political neutrality. Justice Minister nominee Park Sung-jae needs to deliberate ways to ensure political neutrality for prosecutors ahead of his confirmation hearing. Public trust in the prosecution could collapse if it is not restored under the government of Yoon Suk Yeol, the prosecutor-turned-president.