Kwon Soon-jung, the chief prosecutor of the Suwon High Prosecutors' Office, said on the 23rd regarding the government's push for the separation of investigative and prosecutorial powers, "There is no country among civilized nations that prevents the institution deciding on prosecution from verifying facts."
On that morning, Chief Prosecutor Kwon posted an article titled "Let's envision the future of the prosecution" on the internal prosecutors' network, iProse.
Chief Prosecutor Kwon noted, "If the separation of investigation and prosecution completely prohibits prosecutors from investigating, it undermines the essence of the prosecutorial function, which is one of the judicial functions that seeks to pursue the truth, and thus cannot be a matter for consideration. Such a separation of investigation and prosecution would cause those engaged in the duty of uncovering the truth to turn a blind eye to it," he said. He added, "The argument for the separation of investigation and prosecution may sound plausible at first glance, but its concept is ambiguous and its origins unclear, making it difficult to find overseas references."
Chief Prosecutor Kwon stated, "Theoretically, investigation cannot be separated from the activity of prosecution, which is the authority of the prosecutor to seek a guilty verdict and appropriate punishment. Just as a judge must verify the facts to render a judgment, the prosecutor must verify the facts to decide on whether to prosecute, and that is precisely investigation." He further added, "Investigation is an essential function for prosecution."
Chief Prosecutor Kwon remarked, "Even if reforms, such as the separation of investigative and prosecutorial powers, occur, if the ruling party, as the majority, passes the special prosecution law to conduct unlimited investigations against its political opponents, the reforms would become meaningless. Therefore, it is essential to examine this issue seriously during this opportunity to ensure that prosecutions do not degrade into a tool for abuse by the powerful legislative authority in conjunction with the special prosecution system."
Chief Prosecutor Kwon emphasized, "We must not repeat the past mistakes of disregarding the opinions of true experts and those on the ground, as during the previous 'investigation and prosecution reform." He stated, "It is necessary to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of the bill meticulously through various public hearings and discussions, and to carry out in-depth discussions and reviews in open places rather than in secretive meetings without even leaving meeting records, allowing each member to put their name forward so that we can hold them accountable to history in the future."
Finally, Chief Prosecutor Kwon said, "In the novel '1984', there is a scene where all social issues are blamed on a person named 'Emmanuel Goldstein.' It goes without saying that the new government's reform efforts should not become a way to easily shift the blame for all problems to the prosecution in this 'Goldstein blame-shifting manner.'" He added, "Such emotional incitement, conspiracy theories, or vengeful sentiments will not yield proper solutions."
Meanwhile, the National Planning Committee suspended the prosecutors' office report after 30 minutes on the 20th. The reason cited was that there had not been proper analysis regarding the contents of President Lee Jae-myung's election promises, including the separation of investigative and prosecutorial powers. At that time, Jo Seung-rae, the Spokesperson for the National Planning Committee, remarked about the prosecutors' office report, "When setting the implementation plan for election promises, it should be specifically formulated based on the policy pledge book and the president's statements."