[Editorial] Is resorting to special prosecutors our only alternative?

Again, it appears that prosecutors have mounted nothing but people's suspicions over the scandal involving the Dong Bang Mutual Savings and Finance' unlawful loans. They bypassed this time the investigation of the essential issues in question. Such was also their investigative attitude when they investigated such controversial cases as the clothes-for-favors lobby, prosecutors' alleged machination of strikes at the Korea Mint Corporation, the Hanvit Bank loan scandal and the exercise of pressure on the Korea Trust Guarantee Funds for unlawful loans.

The country is now concerned about the possibility that the people's heightened distrust in our prosecutors and the parliament's parallel proceedings to impeach the Prosecutor-General may augur misfortunes for the nation.

The prosecutors have brought to end their probes of Korea Digital Line president Chung Hyun-Joon and Dong Bang's vice chairman Lee Kyong-Ja, who masterminded the unlawful loans in the amount of 70 billion won. Chung and Lee, along with 14 other accomplices, were formally indicted. However, not a single person from the public officials or politicians who were all along suspected of involvement in the scandal is included among them. Though assistant deputy director of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Kim Young-Jae has been detained, he is yet to formally be indicted.

Besides, the warrant to detain Kim was issued not on strictly the same charges as those of this loan scandal.

The prosecutors have assured us of their intensified investigations. They say that they will continue the probe on any suspicions about lobbying of the FSS and Chung's private funds. But, no one can realistically expect any new investigative findings from such assurances of the prosecutors. Because they do not, as the past, seem to show this time any determination or will for thorough investigations into the pivotal aspect of the suspicions.

As has been pointed out numerous times, the crucial point to be probed in this case is whether or not Chung and Lee lobbied politicians and public officials to disguise the unlawful loans. Chung managed to form some 70 billion won for his private funds. In the process, he promised his fund members to offset their losses from their investments in his fund. When Chung's assurances were disclosed, the public's suspicions over unlawful lobbying mounted.

Such suspicions notwithstanding, the prosecutors hardly showed any enthusiasm to investigate politicians by stating that Chung did not mention any names of political personalities. Moreover, Chung and others mentioned the real names of some power elites at the parliamentary cross-examinations for state auditing, but this did not change the prosecutors' attitude unwillingness to probe them. We should like to ask how the prosecutors came to draw such a summary conclusion of dismissing any politicians' involvement without even investigating where the loaned money was spent as well as concrete details about Chung's private funds.

Furthermore, Chung testified before the parliamentary committee that Lee played a pivotal role for lobbying of politicians and public officials. Yet, the prosecutors have hardly showed any interest to follow up the testimony for the investigation. Meanwhile, Dong Bang president Yoo Jo-Woong and Shinyang Factoring president Oh Kie-Joon, both known to have acted as Lee's lobbying agents, have fled overseas For this reason, the prosecutors' investigations of FSS assistant deputy director Kim came to a dead end. This is also an aspect that causes the public to have suspicions about the prosecutors' doubtful conduct.

For this reason, we think it is inevitable to introduce the special prosecutors in order to dispel the public's suspicions. The prosecutors must investigate this loan scandal fresh from the ground up, not with just an additionally intensified probe, if they really want to avoid the loss of face this time after the humiliation they had to encounter last year by the introduction of special prosecutors to replace them. President Kim Dae-Jung's emphasis on our all-out war to fight against any corruption is very opportune and timely. The prosecutors' right response to the President's call must be the undertaking of their thorough probe of this scandal.