Supreme Court again blocks probe team's access to Kim Yong trial records

The Supreme Court has again rejected a request by the fact-finding team operating under the Ministry of Justice's Committee for Prosecutors' Human Rights and Future Reform to access and copy trial records from the case of Kim Yong, former deputy head of the Democratic Research Institute.

The fact-finding team received an official notice Monday from the Supreme Court denying its request for access to and copies of the records. It was the second such denial, following an initial rejection on July 2. The court did not disclose its specific reasons for the decision.

The fact-finding team has maintained that, under internal operating guidelines of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, it is authorized to hear statements from parties involved in cases, collect written statements and explanations, gather investigation and trial records, and seize evidence.

On that basis, the team resubmitted its request for access to and copies of the records after the court's first denial. On Thursday, it also filed a written opinion asking the court to at least allow prompt access to records held by prosecutors.

With the Supreme Court issuing a second denial, the fact-finding team is expected to proceed with its investigation using copies of records held by prosecutors. The team has also been unable to obtain records related to the so-called Daejang-dong case, which is currently before the Seoul High Court on appeal.

The Ministry of Justice launched the committee last month to review alleged human rights violations that occurred during prosecutorial investigations. The committee selected seven cases for its first round of inquiry: the Ssangbangul funds-to-North Korea case, the Daejang-dong case, the Kim Yong case, the Wirye new town case, the shooting death of a South Korean civil servant at sea, the statistics manipulation case, and allegations of false reporting defaming Yoon Suk Yeol.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office formed the fact-finding team at the committee's request, appointing Kim Su-hong, then a senior prosecutor at the Ministry of Justice, as its head. The team initially set up an office at the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office in Songpa-gu before relocating to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said on July 10 that it saw "no reason to treat this differently from other fact-finding inquiries" and planned to provide records in accordance with Supreme Prosecutors' Office guidelines. The fact-finding team is understood to have since obtained relevant materials from the office.

Legal circles have raised concerns that the law limits access to trial records to defendants and their counsel, and that providing such records to a third party would be unlawful. Former prosecutors-general Hong Seung-wook, Shin Bong-su, Kim Yu-cheol and Song Gyeong-ho recently issued a joint statement calling on the team to "immediately halt its legally groundless attempt to obtain trial records."