hankyoreh

The presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, is using the prosecution as a tool to control society. Whenever socially or politically important incidents, such as the replacement of the KBS president, privatization of public companies and huge rallies for renegotiation on U.S. beef import rules occur, the prosecution resolves the situation in favor of the presidential office.

Many experts say that the case of questioning of the KBS president is one example where the prosecution have been used as a tool by the president, and that had been a familiar situation in the military backed government in the 1980s. The president of KBS Chung Yeon-ju was summoned rather quickly by prosecutors to be questioned about malpractice in the proceedings of a tax lawsuit with the National Tax Service.

It is uncertain whether Chung is guilty or not, but the attitude of the prosecution in handling Chung's case is unusual, according to the experts. When a head of an organization is accused, the prosecution, in general, handles the incident by probing persons and data which are related to the case and rarely summons the head of the institution. As heads of organizations tend to be accused for many reasons, there will be a serious disruption of service if they are summoned in each case.

However, when a former KBS executive accused Chung on May 14, prosecutors decided to summon Chung one month after accusation after formally investigating two employees of KBS related to the situation. When Chung did not show up at the prosecution's office on June 17 as requested, an official of the prosecution said Chung should appear and explain regarding the case. However, the prosecution’s plan to summon Chung was made after Broadcasting and Communications Commission Chairman Choi Si-jung, President Lee Myung-bak’s “mentor,” called for Chung to resign. Therefore, the summons stirred up controversy over “investigation for political purposes” combined with pressure from all directions by the Board of Audit and Inspection and the NTS.

Lawyers for a Democratic Society, which has organized a defense team for Chung, said, “We are urging the prosecution to execute rational investigations following normal procedures. If Chung’s suspicion is confirmed, we will clarify it, but we will expect their responsibility if prosecutors enforce unreasonable investigations with a political purpose.”

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]