The High-ranking Public Officials Crime Investigation Office (Public Investigation Office), which received the complaint of former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol's 'indictment of accusation', began reviewing whether to initiate an investigation.
However, there is an opinion from the legal circle that the Ministry of Airborne Affairs is not a subject that can be investigated based on what is known so far, so it seems difficult for the Ministry of Airborne Service to make a quick decision.
A key official from the Air Traffic Control Agency said today (7th), "We received the complaint yesterday and are conducting a basic investigation into the allegations."
He said, "We are reviewing the fact-finding activities of the prosecution, new claims from the political circles, media reports, and legal issues from various angles," he said. "The situation is fluid."
The reason why the Airborne Service is so cautious is that it is difficult for the Airborne Service to initiate an investigation based on the allegations raised so far.
There are five charges against the former President Yoon and others by the Citizens' Action for Correcting Justice and Justice yesterday: ▲ Abuse of power, obstruction of exercise, ▲ Leaking public secrets ▲ Violation of the Public Official Election Act ▲ Violation of the National Public Officials Act ▲ Violation of the Personal Information Protection Act.
First of all, the accused, such as former President Yoon or Son Jun-seong, former investigative and information policy officer of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, are former and current prosecutors, and thus fall under the 'high-ranking public officials' that can be investigated by the Public Investigation Service.
However, the Ministry of Airborne Affairs cannot investigate the allegation that ex-President Yoon, while he was in office, instigated the future United Party (currently the People's Power), the largest opposition party, to file a complaint against politicians, etc., ahead of the April 15 general election.
Even if there is evidence to substantiate the suspicion, it cannot be investigated immediately by applying the charge of violating the Public Official Election Act, which stipulates the obligation of public officials to be politically neutral.
This is because violations of the Public Official Election Act do not fall under the crimes of high-ranking public officials that can be investigated by the Ministry of Public Relations.
The charges of violating the National Public Officials Act and the Personal Information Protection Act are similarly beyond the scope of investigations by the Public Security Service stipulated by the Public Security Service Act.
Abuse of authority or leakage of official secrets are high-ranking official crimes that can be investigated by the Ministry of Public Security, but the view of the legal community is that it is difficult to apply.
In fact, for an abuse of power charge to apply, the actor must have that power.
The prosecution is not the exclusive authority of prosecutors, so it is difficult to see that the act of Prosecutor Sohn instigating the prosecution against Rep. Kim Woong, the People's Power, is an abuse of power.
Seung Jae-hyeon, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for Criminal and Legal Policy, said, "Under the Criminal Procedure Act, anyone who finds illegality has the right to file a complaint, so it is difficult to apply the charge of abuse of power." It’s a principle, so it’s difficult to achieve,” he said.
(Photo = Yonhap News)