Shin Jeonghun Chokes Up at Plenary Session: "The People Ended 78 Years of Prosecutorial Darkness"

Chairman Shin Delivers Strong Statement Ahead of SCIA Act Vote at National Assembly Plenary

Declares, "The Prosecution Can No Longer Reign Above the People"


Becomes Emotional While Reading Roh Moo-hyun's Autobiography and Farewell Letter

Recalls, "A Nation That Lost Its President to the Blade of the Prosecution"

Shin Jeonghun

Shin Jeonghun, Chair of the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee and a member of the Democratic Party of Korea (representing Naju and Hwasun, hereafter referred to as Chairman Shin), strongly criticized the structural problems of prosecutorial power on March 20 ahead of the vote on the Act on the Organization and Operation of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency (hereafter the SCIA Act) at the National Assembly plenary session, declaring, "We must end the era of prosecutorial power, which has held both investigation and indictment in one hand and reigned above the people for 78 years."

The SCIA Act is a follow-up legislation prepared to define the organization, scope of duties, personnel, and operations of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, in accordance with last year's amendment to the Government Organization Act, which abolished the Prosecutors' Office and established the Public Prosecution Office under the Ministry of Justice and the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

The party, government, and presidential office agreed to separate the Public Prosecution Office and the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, thus establishing a mutual checks and balances structure between investigative and prosecution bodies, and to minimize opportunities for prosecutors at the Public Prosecution Office to intervene in investigations, thereby finalizing the prosecutorial reform plan.

However, the initial design of the SCIA proposed by the government was criticized for its dual structure of judicial investigators and professional investigators, as well as its broad investigative scope, with concerns raised that it was "splitting the Prosecutors' Office into two to create a second Prosecutors' Office" and "an attempt by the prosecution to regain control over the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, the police, and all investigative agencies."

The Prosecution Reform Advisory Committee and civil society strongly objected, arguing that "the prosecutor-centric dualized structure should be abolished, and the supplementary investigative authority and investigation notification provisions—which serve as de facto tools for the Public Prosecution Office to direct and control—must be revised." Even within the ruling bloc, there were concerns that the intent of prosecutorial reform could be undermined.

Amid such controversy, Chairman Shin played a key role during party-government-presidential consultations and committee bill reviews by adjusting the jurisdiction of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, unifying the investigative personnel structure, and revising provisions that left room for Public Prosecution Office prosecutors to intervene in the Agency’s investigations.

As a result, it is now assessed that the path for the prosecution to regain control over the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency and the police has been blocked, and the involvement of Public Prosecution Office prosecutors in investigations has been fundamentally prevented, thereby reestablishing an equal relationship between investigative and prosecution agencies.

In his proposal speech at the plenary session, Chairman Shin pointed out, "Through underhanded investigations, symbolized by the 'prosecution cabinet,' the prosecution has cruelly mocked the people’s suffering for a long time. In front of the prosecution cabinet, the people were never equal before the law, and the monopoly of prosecutorial power has shaken the very foundations of the Republic of Korea."

He went on to explain, "The Serious Crimes Investigation Agency is a law that creates a new, democratic 'shield of the people' to protect citizens from crimes of power and capital. The core is to transfer investigative authority, which the prosecution has monopolized, to an independent investigative agency, and to divide this power through separation from the Public Prosecution Office so that those in power are held accountable to the people."

Chairman Shin also recalled the "Dialogue between President Roh Moo-hyun and the Prosecutors" from 23 years ago, stating, "The arrogant attitude of prosecutors who asked a president from a high school graduate background for his university class and mocked him was a symbolic scene showing that prosecutorial power has reigned above the people," strongly criticizing prosecutorial conduct.

Chairman Shin’s pointed remarks continued during the subsequent filibuster.

In the National Assembly plenary chamber, Chairman Shin read passages from the autobiography and farewell letter of former President Roh Moo-hyun, conveying the anguish he endured during the prosecutorial investigation. At one point, he became emotional as he read sections describing the process of investigation and the burden of guilt Roh carried until the end.

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Chairman Shin stated, "What we lost because of the prosecution was not merely a politician, but a philosopher who spent his life asking himself, 'What is a nation? What is progress? How should we live?' Losing such a person to the prosecution’s blade means that prosecutorial reform and the separation of investigation and indictment are tasks that can never be abandoned."

He emphasized, "The driving force that brought prosecutorial reform bills this far was not any political party or politician, but the people of Korea. At this historic turning point, as the prosecution disappears after 78 years, the National Assembly must choose a ‘nation of citizens,’ not a ‘nation of prosecutors.’"

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.