[Editorial] No retaliation in probes
Special counsels should be neutral figures to avoid suspicions of revenge, oppression
Three bills mandating special counsel probes into allegations involving the administration of former President Yoon Suk Yeol were enacted Tuesday following approval at a Cabinet meeting.
One of the bills requires special counsels to investigate insurrection and treason charges related to Yoon's failed declaration of martial law.
The second bill calls for a probe into allegations against Yoon's wife, Kim Keon Hee. She allegedly accepted luxury goods as bribes, manipulated stock prices and intervened illegally in the People Power Party's nomination of candidates for the National Assembly.
The third bill deals with the death of a Marine who drowned while searching for missing flood victims and the presidential office's alleged pressure on officials investigating his death.
The bills mark the first legislation for President Lee Jae-myung since taking office last week.
Their passage through the Assembly was led by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea.
Simultaneous special counsels investigating three cases against key figures from the previous administration and possibly lawmakers from the People Power Party are unprecedented.
In light of the seriousness of the allegations, the truth needs to be uncovered. But the investigations should be impartial and transparent. If not, they are likely to be caught up in suspicions of political retaliation.
Investigations of the allegations in question are either completed or ongoing. They were conducted separately by the prosecution, the police and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials.
The government and the ruling party say the legislation was intended to increase the efficiency of the investigations by integrating the separate probes and revealing the overall truth in all three cases, but there is concern about the scale of the investigation and how special counsels are appointed.
As many as 120 prosecutors will be assigned to three special counsel teams. This figure is more than half of the number of prosecutors at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, the nation's largest. Hundreds of investigation officers and assistants will also join.
Allocating so many resources to the special counsel probes could set back investigations into other cases affecting the lives of ordinary people.
Among other provisions, the bills give only the Democratic Party and the minor opposition Rebuilding Korea Party, which almost always stands by the now-ruling party, the exclusive right to recommend special counsels in the three cases. It is hard to dispel worries about the political neutrality of their investigations.
The appointment of special counsels is a supplementary system designed to keep those in power from pushing biased investigations. It should be used in exceptional circumstances and only as necessary.
But the Democratic Party unilaterally passed bills that expand the scope of special counsel probes and grant nominating authority exclusively to certain parties.
It is true that suspicions about the previous administration still need to be addressed, and some investigations have been criticized as insufficient. But in a situation where Lee and the Democratic Party are now in power, it is questionable whether special counsels are even necessary to investigate the previous administration instead of using the existing judicial system. It is difficult to erase suspicions of political motivations.
The opposition People Power Party has condemned the bills, arguing that the special counsels' "triple investigations" are political revenge.
If the investigations were used as a lever of power for political suppression, as the People Power Party worries, it would be a grave threat to democracy.
The special counsel investigations should not split the nation into "us versus them," either. People experienced deep division during the Moon Jae-in administration due to its drive to eliminate "the evils of the past," which led to claims of a political vendetta.
Lee vowed to base his government on "integration." If so, the special counsel probes should serve as a just means of revealing the truth and ultimately restoring the rule of law, not a means for retaliation and oppression. That begins with appointing special counsels who are politically unbiased and widely respected.
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