Kang Seung-woo is the Business Desk editor at The Korea Times. Prior to this position, he covered politics, national affairs, finance and sports.
Prosecution's indictment of Cho's wife raising eyebrows
Members of the media wait in front of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office to see whether the prosecution will summon for questioning justice minister nominee Cho Kuk's wife, who has been indicted on charges of fabricating a school certificate t
By Kang Seung-woo
By Kang Seung-woo
The prosecution's decision to indict the wife of justice minister nominee Cho Kuk for the alleged forgery of a document without questioning her is raising eyebrows as some consider it an indication that the law enforcement agency is going all-out to thwart Cho's nomination.
Cho, a law professor at Seoul National University, is considered the perfect fit to carry out President Moon Jae-in's plan to reform the prosecution by removing its exclusive investigative rights and dividing them up with the police. Many believe if Cho takes office, the prosecution will be in the firing line.
On Friday night when Cho was undergoing his long-awaited confirmation hearing, the prosecution filed a formal charge against his wife, surnamed Chung, as part of its investigation into an array of corruption allegations involving his family. The wife, a Dongyang University professor, is accused of forging a school president's award certificate in 2012 to help her daughter enter medical school in 2014.
In the wake of what they claim to be an “unreasonable” decision, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and Cho's supporters are strongly voicing their opposition to the indictment, denouncing it as a “political move.”
The DPK slammed the prosecution, calling the indictment a “clear abuse of prosecutorial powers” and emphasizing the charge was made without the suspect being questioned.
What is more irksome to them is the prosecution's decision was made as a seven-year statute of limitations for the crime was to expire at midnight.
“Given that Sept. 6 was the last day before the statute of limitations ran out, it is a shame that prosecutors indicted Cho's wife without questioning her,” DPK spokesman Rep. Hong Ik-pyo said.
“Without a proper investigation, the indictment came during Cho's confirmation hearing, which nullifies lawmakers' power to screen the candidate, it can only be seen as the prosecution's abuse of power.”
Many people also criticized the prosecution online, saying the indictment proved the need to reform the organization. They also accused prosecutors of attempting to press Cho to step down by taking his family hostage.
The indictment is taking flak from inside the organization as well.
“It shows that the prosecution will not change and people should be aware of this and abandon expectations,” said Seo Ji-hyun, a prosecutor and trailblazer of the nation's #MeToo movement.
“I don't know the details of the case, but the decision to proceed with the investigation and indict, is itself self-explanatory.”
Lim Eun-jeong, the chief prosecutor of the Ulsan District Prosecutors Office, also said many prosecutors that are involved in the political investigation are unaware and were deceived into believing that they are on the “right side.”
Meanwhile, an online petition urging Cheong Wa Dae to sack Prosecutor-General Yoon Seok-youl for disclosing classified information to the media has been posted on the presidential office's website, collecting more than 382,000 signatures as of Sunday.
The petitioner claimed the prosecution leaked information obtained from its large-scale search and seizure operation ― part of its investigation into allegations against Cho ― to a media outlet late last month and the outlet exclusively reported it.
In response to the growing criticism, the prosecution's office said it can indict a suspect without questioning, adding it plans to question Cho's wife regarding the forgery issue and other allegations.