ed Politicized prosecutor

The winning rates of Kim Su-nam, the nation’s second-highest public prosecutor, are not very impressive, to say the least.

For instance, Kim lost a controversial treason case years ago by failing to prove that former leftist lawmaker Lee Seok-ki conspired to stage a rebellion. Recently Kim also has raised a stir, within the media and the diplomatic community, by demanding 18 months’ jail for a former Japanese correspondent here for defaming President Park Geun-hye.

It might be in recognition of such ideological aggressiveness and show of loyalty to the President, however, that Park nominated Kim as the next prosecutor general on Friday. And this is also why many Koreans are concerned about Kim’s behavior over the next two years.

At stake is whether Kim, if he clears the confirmation hearings in mid-November, will be able to remain fair, neutral and independent during the general elections in 2016, and in the run-up to presidential poll in 2017.

Unfortunately, the chances are not so high, given Kim’s track record.

Opposition parties worry, not without reason, that Kim may stage a massive anticorruption drive ― a different name for political purge by removing or weakening political rivals by top leaders ― and/or help governing party candidates win in parliamentary elections. Legislators, especially liberal oppositionists, will have to grill Kim hard at the hearings, especially about his politicized track records and that he was actually too "shortsighted” to fulfill his military duty.

With the appointment, President Park has filled all major posts of law enforcement ― which also includes top police officer, highest taxman, chief trustbuster and second-highest auditor ― with people from the same regional group, the old "TK line (Taegu/Kyongsangbuk-do),” or "DG (Daegu-Gyeongsangbuk-do) line” in the current Romanization system.

This line-up of powerful posts was unthinkable even under the rules of general-turned-presidents who also hail from the region. Given that regional antagonism had been one of the biggest stumbling blocks to the nation’s political development, it is more than regretful that Park is reviving the old evil. President Park said she was not conscious of regions in filling the key posts, just focusing on their abilities and qualifications. "It is just coincidence that sometimes these people are from the east, and sometimes from the west,” she said.

That was a lame excuse, or a lie. During nearly three years in office, she has put almost no one from the southwestern provinces into key posts. Compare this with former President Kim Dae-jung, a son of the rival Gwangju/Jeollanam-do area, who picked a TK politician for his first chief of staff. Can it be coincidence that evil practices of the past ― regionalism, government-authored textbook, state-led mobilization ― are gaining new life under the daughter of the former strongman?

And if people from President Park’s hometown blindly follow their leader to turn back the democratic clock, Koreans will soon begin to call them the ``DoG (Daegu of Gyeongsangbuk-do)” line.