A standing special counsel (standing special prosecutor) to investigate the alleged loss of a "currency band for bundled banknotes" for Geonjin and the alleged outside pressure to drop charges in the Coupang severance pay case will be launched for the first time in 11 years. It is the second standing special counsel after the one launched in 2021 to investigate the Sewol ferry disaster. However, this is the first time since the system was introduced in 2014 that a special counsel has been formed to directly investigate the prosecution.
President Lee Jae-myung on the 16th appointed attorney Ahn Gwon-seop (60, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 25) of the law firm Daeryun from among the special counsel candidates recommended by the National Assembly. This special counsel is effectively the first "minister-determined standing special counsel" launched without National Assembly consent, as Minister of Justice Jung Sung-ho judged that "it is difficult to gain public trust through the prosecution's internal inspection alone."
There are two cases at issue. First is the case in which a currency band and sticker for a 50 million won bundle among 165 million won discovered during a search and seizure of Geonjin Jeon Seong-bae's home by the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office in Dec. last year went missing. The ruling bloc has raised suspicions that "the prosecution destroyed evidence."
There is also the so-called allegation of "outside pressure to drop charges in the Coupang severance pay case." This case involves an "outside pressure allegation" that then Bucheon Branch Chief Prosecutor Um Hee-jun pressured Senior Prosecutor Moon Ji-seok, who was in charge of the investigation, to issue a non-indictment in a Coupang severance pay case handled by the Bucheon branch of the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office in April this year. Moon said at a parliamentary audit that he even faced profanity and verbal abuse from Um.
Under the Standing Special Counsel Act, a special counsel is triggered if the National Assembly passes a resolution at a plenary session, or if the Minister of Justice recognizes a conflict of interest and makes a direct determination. The only past example of a standing special counsel being invoked was the 2021 special counsel for the Sewol ferry disaster investigation, which went through a National Assembly vote.
This special counsel is expected to have significant political repercussions as the first case in which a minister unilaterally initiated a standing special counsel and the first standing special counsel targeting the prosecution organization.
The results of the special counsel's investigation are also expected to affect the ruling bloc's push for so-called "prosecution reform." If outside pressure from the prosecution leadership or willful shoddy investigation is revealed, the credibility of the entire prosecution organization could be damaged.
A feature of a standing special counsel is that a swift investigation is possible. The president cannot exercise veto power over the appointment of the special counsel and the launch of the investigation. Also, if the Minister of Justice so determines, a standing special counsel can be launched without National Assembly consent.
On the other hand, the limits of a standing special counsel are clear. There is a reason the political world has preferred an ordinary special counsel. For an ordinary special counsel, the National Assembly enacts a special counsel law for each case and can set a broad investigation team size and authority. Even looking only at the three special counsels recently implemented, a large number of prosecutors were dispatched: ▲ 60 for the special counsel investigating the insurrection case ▲ 40 for the Kim Keon-hee special counsel ▲ 20 for the Marine Corps special counsel.
A standing special counsel is also limited to five prosecutors. The investigation time is shorter than for an ordinary special counsel. The "three special counsels," which are ordinary special counsels, have a basic 60–90 days, plus three possible extensions of 30 days each, allowing for a maximum investigation of 150–180 days. The investigation period for a standing special counsel is up to 90 days.
Meanwhile, this special counsel is the 18th since the "Korea Mint strike inducement case" and the "clothes lobby case" in 1999. Ordinary special counsels have been used 16 times, and standing special counsels twice.