Reform Party floor leader says scrapping prosecutors' supplementary investigation powers is like 'asking them to be fortune tellers'

Reform Party floor leader Cheon Ha-ram said Monday that a proposed revision to the Criminal Procedure Act that would fully abolish prosecutors' supplementary investigation powers amounts to "practically asking prosecutors to be fortune tellers — just look at the paperwork and fill in the gaps."

Cheon also said senior police commanders would welcome the change, and that politicians privately celebrating it online were not wrong to do so. "There are a lot of comments online saying, 'Isn't this a jackpot for politicians?' — and that's not an incorrect assessment," he said.

Speaking on YTN Radio's "Jang Seong-cheol's News Myeongdang" on Monday, Cheon pointed to the Jang Yun-gi case as an example of how difficult it becomes to correct an investigation once the initial stages go wrong. "There are cases where additional investigation by prosecutors changes the outcome," he said. "But now that would become impossible."

When the host suggested that prosecutors could simply ask police to review CCTV footage and other evidence through their power to request supplementary investigation, Cheon pushed back. "A prosecutor is not a fortune teller," he said. "You only get results by conducting the investigation yourself and gathering evidence directly. If you can only look at documents and sense something is lacking, then the investigation truly is lacking."

Cheon said the current system places accountability squarely with prosecutors because they decide whether to indict. "Until now, because prosecutors decided whether to indict, they were responsible for the investigation in any case they brought to trial," he said. "Under the new system, once the paperwork arrives, prosecutors just decide whether to indict or not. That means even if an acquittal comes later, they can say, 'The police investigated this — I just indicted it.' No one takes responsibility. And police may think, 'As long as I send it up the chain, my job is done.'"

He also said that while there is much debate about whether prosecutors in other countries investigate as extensively as those in South Korea, one thing is clear. "There is almost no country that legally prohibits prosecutors from investigating," he said. "Prosecutors in the United States can all conduct investigations — because when it is urgent, prosecutors need to gather materials and take statements directly."

Cheon added that the change would create numerous loopholes for defense attorneys to exploit. "If I were a defense lawyer, there would be so many gaps to probe between the police and prosecutors," he said. "I think the wealth gap in criminal defense representation will only widen."

He said South Korea's prosecution service has historically been unusual in its willingness to investigate elected officials and political power. "There are very few investigative agencies in the world that pursue elected officials and political power this aggressively," he said. He added that police, unlike prosecutors, do not automatically hold bar qualifications after leaving the force, lack the same job security, and face intense pressure around promotions.

"That makes them far more vulnerable to the political power that controls personnel decisions," Cheon said. "Police are more cautious than people think — it is not as if they automatically go harder on the opposition party. Power is cyclical. So I think the number of politicians who face punishment will decrease markedly going forward."