Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office is deliberating whether to conduct supplementary investigations into allegations concerning former President Moon Jae-in's wife, Kim Jung-sook, regarding the purchase of clothing. [Photo=Yonhap News]

Although the abolition of the prosecution service is still about eight months away, prosecutors are already showing a tendency to steer clear of politically sensitive cases, such as 'power investigations' involving high-ranking public officials.

According to legal circles on the 4th, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office is contemplating whether to proceed with supplementary investigations into allegations concerning former President Moon Jae-in's wife, Kim Jung-sook, regarding the purchase of clothing.

While the prosecution requested a reinvestigation on January 29th, stating that they needed to hear directly from Ms. Kim, the police did not summon her even once, maintaining their previous decision not to forward the case.

The prosecution can request the transfer of the case within 30 days if the police fail to properly implement the reinvestigation request. If a transfer is not requested, the case will be closed without indictment.

Since the launch of the current administration and the push for prosecution reform, there has been a continuous trend within the prosecution to transfer politically sensitive cases to the police rather than directly investigate them.

Representatively, cases such as: the complaint against President Lee Jae-myung related to a fire at the National Information Resources Service; the complaint regarding alleged omission of assets by Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum; and complaints against special prosecutors Eun Seok-soo and Min Jung-ki for alleged misconduct in the special prosecution of President Yoon Suk-yeol and Kim Keon-hee, respectively, have been handed over to the police.

A prosecutor handling anti-corruption cases stated, "In the past, even cases involving former Democratic Party floor leader Kim Byung-wook or lawmaker Kang Seon-woo would have been investigated by the prosecution, but we have lost the will to investigate, given how the prosecution itself is viewed with suspicion."

Although the scope of direct investigations has been reduced to corruption and economic crimes since the adjustment of investigative authority between the prosecution and the police in 2021, the prosecution is still capable of conducting power investigations targeting politicians and high-ranking public officials under the 'Regulations on the Scope of Crimes for which Prosecutors May Initiate Investigations,' which include violations of the Political Funds Act and the Public Official Election Act.

There are concerns both within and outside the prosecution that cases related to the Public Official Election Act, which has a statute of limitations of six months, may be buried during police investigations ahead of the local elections in June.

The prosecution pointed out, "The prosecution service will cease to exist in October. If the police handle all cases with approaching statutes of limitations, insufficient investigations could make it difficult to prove guilt in future trials."

Meanwhile, Kim Soon-hwan, Secretary-General of the Committee for the Advancement of People's Livelihoods, the complainant in the allegations that Ms. Kim Jung-sook used special activity funds from the Blue House for clothing expenses, urged, "Even at this juncture, before the abolition of the prosecution service, the prosecution must do its utmost for the fairness of the law."

Reporter Lim Yo-hee