[Editorial] Public Prosecutor General`s Inspection Tour a Mere Show?

The public prosecutors office has disappointed the public yet again. Taejeon regional public prosecutor general Shin Seung-Nam requesting police patrol car escort for the first inspection tour and preparing a reception at such an inappropriate time all amount to nothing but a show that will diminish the public`s confidence. The public prosecutors, which has been the target of recent public criticism, is acting like some powerful political body that deserves special treatment instead of taking the criticism as a sign to be prudent.

According to the initial plan, Mr. Shin would have arrived with a police escort that only the President, top three cabinet members, and former presidents can get. It could have ended up being a `royal procession`. Furthermore, the public prosecutors office staff, who organized the reception for Mr. Shin to share `pleasant conversations` supposedly asked all kinds of personal questions to the supporters who attended it. What kind of an organization is this? Their conduct is disappointing and angering.

Only a month ago, Mr. Shin was on the verge of getting impeached but got away by the skin of his teeth when the ruling party refused to oversee the proceedings. The new facts and details about the Jin Seung-Hyun and Lee Yong-Ho gates, which were the basis for impeachment, that have recently emerged confirm that the opposition party`s cry for impeachment was not purely for political reasons. As he had formerly urged for the reform of the public prosecutors office, the public prosecutors office should be applying all of its efforts to reform and rectify its faults at the present time. Yet, the recent `procession incident` shows once again that the office has not changed a bit.

If Mr. Shin`s will for reform was properly communicated to the office, this kind of power-wielding protocol would not have happened. Mr. Shin should take this debacle as an opportunity to reflect on his shortcomings as a leader. He should be penitent about what requires penitence and rectify what needs to be rectified. If not, he does not have the right to be the prosecutor general. The office staff also should work for change rather than seeking the prosecutor general`s approval.