INTERVIEW Minister backs sharing of probe power

Justice Minister Park Sang-ki speaks during an interview with The Korea Times and the Hankook Ilbo at his office in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-han

Marking the second anniversary of the Moon Jae-in administration, The Korea Times, jointly with the Hankook Ilbo, interviewed Cabinet ministers to review his government's policies on tackling corruption to create a more just society, as well as other pending issues ― ED.

Anti-corruption activities are imperative to secure fair society

By Kim Jae-heun

The prosecution has recently voiced its opposition to the government-led judiciary reform to share its exclusive supervisory role over investigations with police. They claim the government and the National Assembly are pushing ahead with the plan without taking their views into consideration.

Justice Minister Park Sang-ki, however, made it clear that prosecutors cannot “design” their own investigations as this is the government's right.

“We have been receiving prosecutors' opinions through various channels and can reflect them. However, neither the prosecution nor the police can designate their own investigative authority,” the minister said in a joint interview with The Korea Times and its sister paper the Hankook Ilbo at his office in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, last Thursday.

“The prosecution can present their stance, but I don't think the government needs to completely accept their demands,” he said. “It is the government's job to decide on the power distribution of investigative authority, and the proposed bill to give police the authority over opening and closing a case is the agreement we've come to with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. The final decision will be made by the National Assembly.”

Park's remarks were in response to prosecutors' fierce opposition to the reform plan, which will give the police more autonomy in conducting investigations. Prosecutor-General Moon Moo-il openly lodged a protest earlier this month, saying police investigations must be checked by the prosecution, and that the reform plan would infringe on the basic rights of the people.

Park also advised both police and prosecutors not to deal with the issue based on distrust of one other, warning them not to spread false or incorrect information.

Another part of the reform plan is to establish a separate investigative unit dealing with alleged corruption and other irregularities committed by high-ranking government officials, lawmakers, prosecutors and their families. This was one of the major election pledges by President Moon Jae-in, and has been sought by previous liberal presidents as well.

The justice minister stressed the need for the third agency as prosecutors have failed to conduct impartial investigations.

“If they had been doing a fair job investigating high-ranking officials and indicting them, people would not be talking about the need for the agency. However, they have failed to do so, and prosecutors don't have much to say about this,” Park said.

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LPK) claims the new agency will become the President's personal organization to attack his opponents. “The agency is designed to ensure political impartiality. Its head is recommended by a commission at the Assembly and two out of its seven commission members are recommended by the opposition,'' the minister said in response.

“In other words, a person cannot become a director without a consensus among the opposition parties,” he added.

For fairer society

Apart from the judiciary reform efforts, Park said punishing white-collar criminals and corruption in hiring has been an important task ordered by President Moon, who has called for a fair and just society.

He said his ministry has made significant progress but remains far from reaching its goal.

“We have worked consistently to fight corruption since the Moon government took office two years ago. Activities to curb irregularities are imperative in building a fair and just society. We are talking about polarization in our society and it refers not only to people's economic status but also their social level,” he said.

“There are people who have the influence to request employment for their children, and those who lack influence. This creates a sense of loss and shame among those without power. It is an important task for the government to make a society that guarantees equal opportunities for everybody.”

According to the minister, Korea received 57 points in the Corruption Perception Index last year, which is the highest ever, but it still falls behind the average of OECD member nations.

“There is personal corruption and corporate corruption. In Korea's case, we witness many irregularities at local governments and public firms. There is still much to be improved and prosecutors are at the front of the line in tackling this,” Park said.

The justice minister said his major goal this year is to revise the Commercial Law to reform corporate governance.

“Current governance at companies here is what keeps encouraging corruption. The owners of a company, as well as its board of directors, have very strong power in controlling the company,” Park said.

“A company won't have a big failure if its decision-making process in investment or other issues is carried out in a democratic way. A company (undergoing governance reform) may face hardship, but Korean companies have to have governance similar to that of firms in advanced nations. That is the goal of the Commercial Law revision.”