[Editorial] Special Prosecution Investigation into Suspicion Surrounding N.I.S. Officials

It is frustrating for Prosecutor`s Office that President Kim Dae-Jung and the ruling party accepted the special prosecution system in less than three days since it started the Special Investigation Headquarter. The ruling party side appears to have judged that it would be better off to employ the special prosecution system despite a burden than to repeat the cloth-lobby scandal if it assigned Prosecutor`s Office the Lee Yong-Ho Scandal being inflated day by day.

Even though it is a system still in controversy in developed countries and we already experienced it twice, the special prosecution system is a natural outcome of what Prosecutor`s Office has done. It is obvious that investigation made solely by Prosecutor`s Office is not able to clear the suspicion under the circumstance that the brother of Prosecutor-General is involved and many prosecution officials are under suspicion.

For it will take quite a long time for the ruling and opposition parties to agree upon and the details of special prosecution system and legislate, the operations of the Supreme Public Prosecutor`s Office and the Special Investigation Headquarter should not be discontinued. They should continue their endeavors to disclose the Lee Yong-Ho Scandal until the special prosecutor begins to go into operation.

As the Lee Yong-Ho scandal is given most attention, the bribery case of Kim Hyung-Yoon, the former director of the National Intelligence Service`s economic affairs is relatively fading away. Prosecutor`s Office is under suspicion that even though it found Kim to have taken a bride of 50 million won from Dong-Bang Bank, it had hushed up the case. This case should be investigated again by the special prosecutor since it is similar to the current power-related scandal in that it was closed without clear explanations.

Even though the agreement between the ruling and the opposition parities to introduce the special prosecution system into the Lee Yong-Ho scandal appears a little inappropriate in the midst of the investigation, it is a good opportunity for Prosecutor`s Office to stake everything on the investigation. Special prosecution system will keep the prosecution office`s investigation from external pressure and protest. The same is true for the bribery case of the NIS official.

Some views from the ruling party side claim that since there is no such thing as `Lee Yong-Ho List` and nothing new will be found even through special prosecution system, there is no need to avoid it. But power-related scandals are not that simple. There is a possibility that parts hidden corrupted can be revealed as the investigation digs thoroughly into them.

Prosecution Office will face the second death if the Special Prosecutor discloses the truth of power-related scandals which it was unable to reveal, or comes to a conclusion different from its own. On the other hand, special prosecution system will mean nothing but confirmation and verification insofar as the Office of the Prosecutor`s investigation is just and without reservation.