Director General Kim Seong-dong of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office inspection bureau (prosecutor general rank) criticized the launch of an internal fact-finding team in the Prosecution Service at the request of the Committee for Respect for Human Rights in the Prosecution's Future (Prosecution Future Committee) under the Ministry of Justice, saying, "Independence, fairness, and objectivity are the lifeblood of the prosecution's inspection function," and, "If the goal was to exclude the inspection bureau's function, there is no choice but to question the fairness of the team's formation and its findings."
According to legal sources on the 2nd, Kim posted an article titled "Inspection function and the rule of law" on the prosecution's internal network, e-Pros, the previous day, writing, "Excluding the command and business coordination of the competent departments regarding the fact-finding team's activities and work raises questions from the perspective of the rule of law."
Kim said, "Fact-finding into cases where allegations of human rights violations or abuse of authority by the prosecution have been raised and clarification is needed is the duty of the Director General of inspection or the human rights policy officer," adding, "Having the fact-finding team's work go through the command and business coordination of the competent departments accords with the constitutional ideal of the rule of law."
Kim said, "In the case of the fact-finding team, in a situation where there has been no objection to the performance of duties by the Director General of inspection or the human rights policy officer, nor any request for a transfer of duties, having a transfer of duties carried out outside the chain of command of the Director General of inspection or the human rights policy officer under the organization rules goes beyond the purpose of the Prosecutors' Office Act and presents a potential violation of the organization rules."
He added, "Even if one broadly interprets the purpose of the authority to transfer duties and reads the prosecutor general's authority in exceptional cases as not constrained by the hierarchical limits in the organization rules, it is reasonable to view that an expansive interpretation cannot be applied to inspection duties."
Kim said, "Independence, fairness, and objectivity are the lifeblood of the inspection function of the prosecution, a quasi-judicial body," adding, "In light of what unfolded in last year's National Assembly audit and this year's parliamentary inquiry, one cannot help but worry whether (the formation of the fact-finding team) was done to exclude the functions of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office inspection bureau or the human rights policy officer under the guise of being a recommendation from the Prosecution Future Committee."
He continued, "If the goal was exclusion, in addition to the rule-of-law concerns mentioned above, there is no choice but to question the fairness of the team's composition and its findings."