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Why Korea must get prosecution reform right this time

Published: 23 Jun. 2025, 00:02

Choi Hyeon-chul

The author is national news editor at the JoongAng Ilbo.

Roughly two years ago, rumors circulated that some prosecutors in the special investigation unit at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office were spending their days reading newspapers. According to reporters familiar with the matter, it was not due to a lack of work. Rather, they were combing through articles that could be linked — however tenuously — to suspicions that former President Yoon Suk Yeol had quashed an investigation into the Busan Savings Bank scandal. Prosecutors later accessed telecommunications data of over 3,000 journalists and politicians connected to the reporting. They staked their professional reputation on a defamation case aimed at defending the former president’s honor. Ultimately, all charges were dropped.

Supreme Prosecutors' Office building in southern Seoul [NEWS1]

Last week, the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office, which is reinvestigating the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation case, reportedly secured a series of voice recordings involving Kim Keon Hee, the former first lady. The recordings may contain evidence suggesting Kim was aware of the stock manipulation scheme. Broker-client phone calls are routinely recorded in financial institutions. Collecting this type of evidence is standard practice. Yet the original investigation team at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office had refused to obtain them. Despite the serious nature of the case, the probe was dropped in 2024 on the grounds of insufficient evidence. Even a fraction of the prosecutorial zeal displayed in the earlier defamation probe might have led to a different outcome.

Lee Chang-soo, right, chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office and Cho Sang-won, deputy chief prosecutor speak with each other during a parliamentary audit of the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office, Suwon High Prosecutors’ Office and Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Oct. 18, 2024. [YONHAP]

For years, prosecutors in Korea have faced criticism for political favoritism, shielding allies in power, and protecting their own. In response, calls for prosecution reform have grown louder. But the institution has largely survived through a pattern of strategic retreat and aggressive counteroffensives. When cornered, it delivered headline-making indictments under the banner of rooting out “deep corruption,” momentarily regaining public confidence. The political funds investigation under President Roh Moo-hyun is a classic example. The prosecution has also shown its willingness to sacrifice a portion of itself — such as the disbandment of the Central Investigation Department during the Park Geun-hye administration or the reduction of investigative authority during the Moon Jae-in government — only to grow back stronger. The volume of special investigations has actually increased over time.

This time may be different. On June 20, the prosecution delivered a policy briefing to the presidential policy planning committee. The stark contrast between the administration’s pledge to drastically overhaul the prosecution — including its potential dismantling — and the prosecutors’ own lack of a detailed reform plan underscores their growing disconnect from political power. The rejection of their presentation as lacking substance was no surprise.

Three independent counsel investigations are now underway. Up to 120 prosecutors may be seconded under the law. Each probe can run for six months. The more successful these special prosecutors are, the more the regular prosecution risks being undermined. Reports suggest there is already internal jockeying among prosecutors to join these special teams. In this political flood, the special counsel posts resemble Noah’s Ark — a vessel of survival for prosecutors seeking refuge.

Meaningful prosecution reform rests on two principles: empowering prosecutors to effectively combat crime and preventing the institution from committing abuses akin to crimes. Reforms focused solely on the latter may seem more like political retaliation than real progress. What citizens ultimately seek is a society where they can live free from fear of crime.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office [YONHAP]

The Democratic Party has introduced a reform bill that would abolish the current prosecution service, replacing it with a separate Office of Prosecution. A new Major Crimes Investigation Agency under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety would handle major investigations. Meanwhile, the National Office of Investigation under the police and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials — both already within the president’s sphere of influence — would be further empowered. A newly created National Investigation Commission would coordinate jurisdictional overlaps. Yet the proposal lacks safeguards to prevent these new entities from becoming political tools themselves. More concerning is the absence of any serious discussion on how to protect victims and ensure timely investigations. Over the past four years, investigations have stalled due to bureaucratic confusion and finger-pointing among agencies, as seen in the probe into last year’s martial law declaration. The lesson appears to have gone unlearned.

Noah’s Ark, having floated through the flood, eventually landed on terrain much like the one it departed. A reform effort that ends in the same place it started feels incomplete. Like a spaceship in science fiction that ventures beyond a ruined Earth in search of a better future, prosecution reform must aim further. With resistance from prosecutors now at a relative low, this may be the most opportune moment to act.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.