The Prosecution Lost Its Face

The new evidences that the law makers of the ruling New Millennium Democratic Party (NMDP) and the high ranking officials of the National Intelligence Service (NIS)`s involvement in `Jung Hyun-Joon Gate` and `Jin Seung-Hyun Gate` were revealed. Thus the prosecution fell into a serious critical situation with the suspicion that the prosecution had tried to conceal the reality of these scandals.

Commenting on the suspicion that the prosecution attempted to conceal the bribery cases of the high ranking officials of the NIS and of the law makers of the NMDP, an official of the prosecution said, yesterday, ``The prosecution totally lost its public credibility`` His comments suggest the seriousness of the crisis that the prosecution faces.

The Spokesperson of the ruling NMDP, Lee Nak-Yeon, made a statement that, ``The prosecution failed to investigates `Jung Hyun-Joon Gate` and `Jin Seung-Hyun Gate` thoroughly, and it is very regrettable.`` The ruling party`s issuing such a statement on the prosecution`s investigation case was an exceptional event.

Spokesperson Lee said, ``Upon the honor of the prosecution, it should reinvestigate the scandals thoroughly and bring the cases to light.`` And he urged, ``The Public Prosecutor General has to manage the situation to the people`s satisfaction.``

The prosecution committed all prosecutors of the First Special Investigation Department of the Seoul District Prosecutors Office to the reinvestigation of `Jin Seung-Hyun Gate` on 16th. Although the prosecution announced that it will reveal the truth, which the people will understand and accept, as soon as possible, the internal atmosphere of the prosecution is full of perplexities.

The First Special Investigation Department of the Seoul District Prosecutors Office, which is in charge of the reinvestigation, prohibited the departure of Kim Jae-Hwan, a former NIS official and a former chairman of MCI Korea. Kim testified that, ``I gave 10 million won to Kim Eun-Sung, Deputy Director General of the NIS, and lent 40 million won to Jung Sung-Hong, Economy Director of the NIS.`` during an investigation in Nov. 2000.

Kim Jae-Hwan was arrested on the suspicion of the embezzlement of lobby funds and was released by the suspension of the sentence in March, 2001. But he recently covered his traces.

A high ranking official of the Seoul District Prosecutors Office said, ``The first step of the investigation is to find out Mr. Kim. And the prosecution plans to review the record of previous investigations by the end of this weekend, and will summon the parties concerned from next week.``

This official continued that, ``The prosecution could not find the traces of 40 million won, which Kim Jae-Hwan claimed that he lent to Jung Sung-Hong, by the first follow-up investigation upon Jung`s account. The prosecution will try to reveal the true picture of the scandals through the account tracking on the parties concerned etc., within a short period of time.``

Wi-Yong Jung chang@donga.com