Abolishment of Central Investigation Department Not Publicly Discussed

On June 16, the Justice Minister, Kang Guem-sil, stated that “we’ve decided to no longer deal with the problem stirred by the aggressive remarks of Song Kwang-su, the head of the prosecution over the disputes whether or not to abolish the central investigation department of the supreme public prosecutor’s office.”

Song also remarked through the spokesman of the supreme public prosecutor’s office, Jung Dong-min, on this day that “I feel really sorry that I gave great anxiety to the president and many others by my careless remarks in recent times.” Discord over the rumor of the abolishment of the central investigation department between Chong Wa Dae and the prosecution has been temporarily concluded by this statement.

At a press conference held this morning at the Ministry of Justice in the government complex at Gwacheon, Minister Kang said “I’ve pointed out the inappropriateness of the discussion over the abolishment (of the central investigation department) to the head of the prosecution, urging him not to deal with this problem any more. He also consented not to touch the problem again.”

As for the abolishment, “the problem of reorganizing the structural system of the prosecution should be decided by the minister, but it has not yet been materialized as a matter of debate inside of the ministry,” said Kang.

She added that “the discussion of abolishment is not based on the political intention to deprive the prosecution of their authority or keep a closer look on them, but on the problem of whether or not to efficiently revise and distribute the investigation function of the prosecution. Right now, the measure of reduction issued by the central investigation department itself seems to be the most reasonable. We’ve made an agreement that the transfer of jurisdiction of the investigation function of the central investigation department is not a necessity.”

Sang-Rok Lee Jin-Young Hwang myzodan@donga.com buddy@donga.com