Prosecution, police tit-for-rat continues

By Yi Whan-woo

Police accepted Friday the prosecution’s order to transfer a controversial case pitting a police officer against a prosecutor to a regional precinct from the National Police Agency (NPA). But the police called the direction an “unfair” command, intensifying the feud between the two law-enforcement organizations.

The police’s decision came two days after the prosecution ordered the case, in which a prosecutor was accused of power abuse, be transferred to a regional police unit.

“We’ve decided to transfer the case to a police precinct in Daegu where the accused resides upon the prosecution’s request. But a special police investigation team will continue to look into the matter, taking into consideration the severity of the case,” said Kim Heon-gi, a senior police officer from the NPA at a press briefing.

In the latest in a series of conflicts, a police inspector named Ju in Miryang accused a prosecutor surnamed Park of putting pressure on him, using abusive language, to drop a case which the inspector had been looking into.

According to the police, lawyers were hired by a company accused of allegedly burying industrial waste in farmlands where Park’s former bosses at the Miryang bureau of the Changwon District Prosecutors’ Office were located. And the prosecutor allegedly ordered, in an inappropriate manner, the police officer to stop investigating the case.

Mindful of growing public concern over the prolonged feud between the law enforcement authorities, NPA chief Cho Hyun-oh also toned down his criticism against the prosecution Friday.

“We’ve accepted the prosecution’s request, taking into consideration the public’s concern.”

However, NPA officials continue to oppose the prosecution’s order.

Prosecutor General Han Sang-dae has reportedly ordered prosecutors to actively vindicate the prosecution’s position and criticize the police.