[Editorial] Kim Jong Bin's Regrettable Resignation

It is extremely regrettable that Justice Minister Chun Jung Bae's decision to exercise his authority in the Kang Jeong Koo case and subsequent conflict between Chun and the prosecution has led Supreme Public Prosecutor General Kim Jong Bin to submit his resignation. We fully understand how Chun's decision caused internal discomfort for the prosecution, but we do not see how the matter is so serious that Kim should want to abandon his job. The reason he resigned is likely because Chun's invocation of his right to direct the Kang investigation is legal and because there would be little rationale for rejecting the guideline that Kang is to be investigated without being under arrest. By being the nation's top prosecutor Kim claims to be the protector of the law. Taking such an extreme form of action against a decision that is in line with the law can only be said to be irresponsible behavior that hurts the authority of the law.

The assumption behind Kim's decision to submit his resignation was that unless he responded with a strong move, the justice minister could involve himself in the decision-making behind an investigation in the future and that would seriously harm the prosecution's authority. But as can be seen in how Chun chose to issue instructions openly and on paper, everyone knows this is a very exceptional case. Also, it is clear that the country would not tolerate having the justice minister get directly involved in every detail of specific cases that come up in the future.

Kim surely knows as much, and so his resignation appears to be related to moves by hard-liners within the prosecution. That is, he very much seems to have been pushed along by calls for him to be a brave soldier by prosecutors who exaggerated the problems the situation presented for the pride and honor of the prosecution as an organization. Something seems to be missing there, since the chief prosecutor's ability to withstand internal pressure is no less important than standing up to pressure from the outside. The old-establishment media was as irresponsible as can be for urging his resignation with emotional rhetoric about, among other things, "sacrificing oneself that others may life."

Even more regrettable is that as the situation gets emotionalized, the important work of establishing the principle of investigation without arrest is at risk of being left behind. You really worry that a fine opportunity to eradicate the custom of automatically arresting a suspect and then figuring things out later is being lost. We hope that the prosecution quickly finds its composure and works to establish measures for preventing unnecessary arrests.

The Hankyoreh, 15 October 2005.

[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]