CIO has little to show but losses as first chief prosecutor retires

The first chief prosecutor of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), Kim Jin-wook, will retire on Jan. 20, completing his three-year term. The CIO has trodden a bump road since its establishment in January 2021.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials' (CIO) signboard on its headquarters building. CIO changed its logo and signboard in August 2022. [NEWS1]

The first chief prosecutor of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), Kim Jin-wook, will retire on Jan. 20, completing his three-year term.

The CIO has trodden a bump road since its establishment in January 2021.

Although less than two weeks remain before the CIO embarks on a new chapter, its next chief has yet to be decided.

The committee selecting candidates has yet to narrow its list to two finalists, even after two months of contemplation.

Candidates must receive votes from at least five of the committee’s seven members to be nominated.

The Justice Minister, head of the Office of Court Administration, president of the Korean Bar Association and four people recommended by the ruling and opposition parties — two from each party — form the committee.

Some members oppose Kim Tae-gyu, a potential nominee endorsed by the ruling party and an incumbent vice chairperson at the Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission.

Kim Jin-wook appointed 13 fellow prosecutors to work for the CIO when it was established. Only two are currently working at the CIO. The other 11 left the institution earlier than their chief.

Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO)’s Chief Prosecutor Kim Jin-wook, chairman of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly Yun Ho-jung, Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae and head of the Preparatory Group of the CIO Nam Gi-myeong attend the signboard hanging and opening ceremony on Jan. 21, 2021 at the governmental complex in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi. [YONHAP]

Kim demonstrated his confidence when appointing those 13 prosecutors, saying, “13 is enough because the 13 people in Leonardo da Vinci’s 'The Last Supper' changed the world.”

However, the CIO's achievements during the last three years proved disappointing.

The CIO has directly filed indictments in three cases: former senior prosecutor Kim Hyung-joon’s alleged bribery, head prosecutor Son Jun-sung’s alleged violation of the Public Official Election Act and another Busan-based prosecutor’s alleged forgery of investigation records.

Courts found the accused innocent in two cases, at least after their first trials. Son’s case is still underway.

For the last three years, the CIO made five arrest warrant requests, all of which were rejected. The CIO filed the request against Son twice, a high-ranking official at The Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) once, and a police official alleged to be implicated in bribery twice.

Critics said the CIO achieved nothing except consecutive losses.

The CIO’s reputation has nose-dived. In the legal industry, prosecutors with CIO backgrounds face disadvantages when seeking jobs at private law firms because the companies do not respect their former employers.

Kim Jin-wook, CIO's chief prosecutor, takes a vow at the parliamentary inspection held at the National Assembly in October. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Former and incumbent prosecutors told JoongAng Ilbo on Friday that the institution went wrong after the institution fell under the command of Kim, who had never managed or experienced investigations. Kim was a researcher at the Constitutional Court.

“During the earlier days, the institution and its people dreamed high. Internally, we thought the CIO could build its presence if it handles one or two major cases [in the way we thought],” a former senior prosecutor from the CIO said.

The prosecutors said Kim’s leadership was a problem. According to them, Kim clashed with other top managerial prosecutors regarding the direction of the investigation.

“It cracked the trust between Kim and other prosecutors,” the former senior prosecutor from the CIO added.

“Kim should have shown leadership in deciding when to embark on search and seizure operations and when to conclude the investigation. However, he didn’t,” another former CIO prosecutor said.

“Kim unreasonably pressured prosecutors to bring visible results, and it corroded cases,” he added.

Restructuring to produce successful investigation results in the short term turned out to be self-sabotage.

Taskforce-based investigation systems blurred the responsibilities of mid-level executives after making top-level figures join. The system is modeled after the system at private law firms, where senior partners work with young lawyers in a task force-based team.

“With the high-level executives meddling with investigation details, the mid-level prosecutors took steps back, and the investigations went wrong,” the CIO’s former senior prosecutor said.

The CIO then abandoned the taskforce-based system and returned to the old method. However, it was too late.

Lawmakers from the Democratic Party take reporters’ questions ahead of accusing Yoo Byung-ho, secretary-general of the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea (BAI), of misfeasance on Oct. 12, 2022, in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi, where the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) is located. [NEWS1]

The CIO also faced criticism for losing its political neutrality.

“The CIO would have gone out of business if it did not have the Democratic Party (DP), which is a loyal customer [that brings multiple cases to the CIO],” Cho Jung-hun, a lawmaker at the ruling People Power Party said during a parliamentary inspection in October.

“It appears that the CIO is a subsidiary or contractor working for the DP," Cho added.

Upon accusations from civic groups, the CIO booked Yoon Suk Yeol, the current president who resigned as prosecutor general to run in the election, on charges of prosecutorial misconduct and interfering with others’ execution of rights in 2021.

They accused Yoon of poorly investigating Optimus Asset Management’s alleged fraud and infringing on the investigation of former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook’s alleged subornation of perjury.

Although the CIO launched the investigation spiritedly, all the accusations against Yoon ended with non-indictments or charges cleared.

DP lawmakers frequently brought cases to the CIO even after the presidential election.

“If a certain political party brings cases to the CIO, it can weaken the agency's authority because it can be seen that external forces guide the investigation,” a former CIO prosecutor said.

“I was suspicious whether DP lawmakers are genuinely expecting investigation results whenever they come to the CIO office,” he said, thinking their gestures are politically motivated.

Kim, the chief prosecutor of the CIO, belatedly attempted to boost its investigative competency by hiring three prosecutors who had experience in the special investigation department. Each of them led investigation units within the CIO.

“When I arrived at the CIO, I realized that the institution was relaxed and less disciplined overall. Also, there was not enough education or training given to its prosecutors,” a CIO’s prosecutor with a background in special investigations said.

“I am orchestrating the investigation as an instructor,” he added.

At this time, whether investigative knowledge and skills are transferring well to the CIO remains unknown. This is because there was no visible outcome from investigations of bribery.

“The CIO was founded on the premises of not investigating like [conventional] prosecutors. However, if it becomes another prosecution-like agency, its standing and legitimacy can fade,” another former CIO prosecutor added.

BY PARK HYEON-JUN, LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]