[Editorial] Prosecution Must Prove Its Independence

When president Roh Moo Hyun said it "wouldn't be desirable to investigate the campaign funds of candidates in the 1997 presidential election you had to doubt your ears. Cheong Wa Dae strongly denies it, but anyone will tell you it sounded like he was giving the prosecution "investigation guidelines." With a single statement he rendered meaningless all he has emphasized and taken pride in regarding his principle of non-interference in politics. Next he said that it would "be too cruel of me if [then] candidate Lee Hoi Chang were to be investigated again." He sounded like an absolute monarch granting benevolence. You wonder how the issue of investigating the collusive relationship between government and business should be approached as something that has anything to do with whether the president feels like he's being mean or not.

Cheong Wa Dae and Uri Party immediately started scurrying about trying to explain what the president meant to be saying but the more you hear the explanations the more confused you get. Cheong Wa Dae chief public affairs secretary Cho Ki Sook says "revengeful investigations into past issues are unnecessary," but you want to ask her just who would be getting revenge if the investigation moved ahead. The same goes for Uri's explanation that Roh was not suggesting corporate crimes be overlooked. You can't figure out whether or not the ruling party is saying the companies that gave money should be investigated while the candidate who received that money should not.

That's the situation with Roh's latest comments; now the focus of attention turns to the prosecution's reaction, because this would be an opportunity to prove through action that it is independent from outside political authority, having taken pride in saying it has that kind of independence. Strictly speaking the prosecution's accomplishments in investigations such as the one into political contributions in the 1997 presidential campaign did have something to do with the president's desire to see them follow through. This time around the prosecution needs to have the guts and the conviction to act in direct opposition to his intentions. The prosecution's claims about freedom from political influence will turn out to have been empty rhetoric if it tries to dodge having to investigate Samsung's bribery campaign after deciding to honor the president's investigation guidelines.

The Hankyoreh, 26 August 2005.

[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]