As the dismantling of the prosecution office and the abolition of its direct investigative authority approach on October 2, the recent "false conclusion of a missing person case" in Jeju raises questions about the direction of criminal justice reform. Is reducing the powers of the prosecution sufficient for reform? The more pressing question now is who will control the police, which has taken on the vast investigative powers previously held by the prosecution, and how will that control be implemented.
On August 25, the Jeju District Court issued an arrest warrant for a police officer, identified as A, from the Jeju West Police Station, on charges of dereliction of duty, forgery and use of public documents, and obstruction of official duties. The court cited "concerns of evidence destruction and flight" as reasons for the warrant. A is accused of falsely claiming to have contacted Jang Mi-ran, who was reported missing in May, and prematurely closing the case, subsequently deleting Jang's information from the police's missing persons profiling system. A similar false conclusion was allegedly made in a missing person case involving a man in his 60s reported in July. Both missing individuals were later found deceased.
The police are the closest power institution to the public, involved in nearly every aspect of the criminal justice process, from responding to 112 emergency calls to conducting searches, arrests, and making decisions on case referrals. As the prosecution's investigative authority diminishes, the weight of police investigative decisions inevitably increases.
If the excessive concentration of power in the prosecution was problematic, the expansion of police authority must also be scrutinized with the same rigor. The notion that it is dangerous for the prosecution to exercise investigative powers but safe for the police to do so is flawed. In a democracy, the issue lies not with the name of the institution but with the existence of "unchecked power" itself.
The police must not limit their response to this incident to identifying the individual criminal responsibility of the officer involved. A comprehensive review of the case closure approval structure, command and supervision systems, authority over changes to missing persons information, management of computer logs, and automatic re-evaluation procedures for re-reported cases is essential. Particularly for cases like missing persons, domestic violence, stalking, and child abuse, where initial judgments can be life-threatening, safeguards must be established to ensure that no single officer can unilaterally decide the outcome.
Relying solely on the police's "self-inspection" is insufficient. A structure where the police investigate, close cases, and then inspect themselves when issues arise makes it difficult to secure public trust. As police powers expand, independent oversight mechanisms that can assess the appropriateness of case handling from outside the police organization must be strengthened.
This is why the effective implementation of the National Police Commission and the legislative establishment of the Police Investigation Review Committee are crucial. External oversight through the National Police Commission must be designed to fulfill a genuine monitoring function, and the Police Investigation Review Committee should be structured to have real effectiveness beyond being a mere advisory body.
This incident poses serious questions for the government and the ruling party. If the focus remains solely on diminishing the power of the prosecution without establishing checks on the police that inherit those powers, the reform will be incomplete. Prosecutorial reform and police reform are not opposing policies; they are part of a single reform effort. If the first step is to decentralize the powers of the prosecution, the second step must be to ensure that the newly distributed powers do not become a new form of authority. It is also essential to apply the same principles to the newly established Serious Crimes Investigation Agency.
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.