Stop former prosecutors from using the black belt

The ”master” award system of the prosecution isn’t so honorable after all. Lee Jong-geun — who as a prosecutor received “a black-belt degree” for his expertise in investigating pyramid schemes — earned 4.1 billion won ($3 billion) in just a year after becoming a lawyer by selling his past credentials. The former senior prosecutor is the husband of Park Eun-jeong, also a former prosecutor who was elected as a proportional representative for a fledgling party founded by former Justice Minister Cho Kuk. The JoongAng Ilbo discovered that lawyers with prestigious prosecutorial accreditation exploited their knowledge and connections to win cases for criminals.

A lawyer with a second-degree (blue-belt) title for a strong track record on sex crimes even defended a criminal suspect who had raped a minor and filmed an exploitive video. The lawyer drew a suspended sentence for his client. Another lawyer with a blue-belt credential on customs crime also drew a suspended sentence for his client accused of smuggling 7.2 billion won worth gold bars from China.

Park, also a former prosecutor, unashamedly said that her husband could have earned 16 billion won, not 4 billion won, over 160 cases he handled if he had fully used his background credentials.

Overly generous treatment of former officials after retirement is not confined to the legal community. A senior official at the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) is under investigation for sharing confidential information with a former colleague working for a financial company. Safety issues related to apartments are also attributed to a cartel in the construction industry led by retirees of state housing authority LH.

Prosecutors who are responsible for eradicating corruption may be breeding their own corruption through the master prosecutor accreditation system. The award system introduced in 2013 was designed to enhance prosecutors’ expertise in their own investigation field. But of 289 master prosecutors over the last 11 years, 78 work as lawyers leveraging their credentials. A senior prosecutor said that the “black-belt” award rather helps former judiciary members receive more money from their clients. What started out as a good program backfired.

An accredited prosecutor must command stricter ethical standard. He or she should be ashamed of using the skills learned in the prosecution to counter criminal investigations. The loyalty tradition runs too deep in the legal community to rely on individual conscience. The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office must supplement the strange award system so that it is not abused after prosecutors’ retirement from public office. At the current rate, the belt award will surely serve as a license to win more cases after starting their private law business.