'Busan roundhouse kick' survivor tells lawmaker behind prosecution overhaul to 'go to hell'

"Go to hell."

That was the message the victim of a highly publicized assault in Busan in 2002 had for ruling Democratic Party (DP) Rep. Kim Yong-min, the lawmaker who led the legislative charge to strip prosecutors of their authority to conduct supplementary investigations.

The victim, who goes by the pseudonym Kim Jin-ju, left the pithy comment on Saturday under an Instagram post by Rep. Kim, who visited the grave of late President Roh Moo-hyun in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang, earlier in the day to lay a copy of the legislation on Roh's tomb.

He posted a photograph of the document beside a wreath with the words "I have finished the task you gave us."

The revision to the Criminal Procedure Act, which the Assembly passed on Friday, strips prosecutors of what is left of their power to investigate, including supplementary investigations after police refer cases to them.

Police and other investigative agencies will have exclusive authority to conduct investigations — prosecutors can only decide whether to bring charges and handle cases in court.

The revision, which passed with 175 of the 178 lawmakers present voting in favor, takes effect Oct. 2. Rep. Kim shepherded the bill through the Assembly's Legis­la­tion and Judi­ciary Com­mit­tee.

Liberals have pointed to President Roh's 2009 death by suicide during a corruption probe following his presidency as an argument for prosecutorial reform, accusing the investigation of being politically motivated. However, critics of the revision have long cited the assault victim's case as evidence why prosecutors should maintain investigative authority.

Kim Jin-ju was attacked while walking home in Busan in 2022 in a case that became known as the "Busan roundhouse kick attack."

The police initially referred it to prosecutors simply as an aggravated assault.

Prosecutors concluded the attacker had meant to kill her and charged him with attempted murder.

After the victim repeatedly pressed for a supplementary investigation at the appeal stage, additional DNA testing found the attacker's DNA on her clothing, and prosecutors amended the indictment to attempted rape and murder.

The assailant was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Ever since, the victim has argued against stripping prosecutors of supplementary investigation power, including at a National Assembly forum last month.

"If the supplementary investigation power is abolished, victims may have to hire a lawyer from the police investigation stage and go looking for the evidence themselves," she said. "There needs to be something that can check an agency's judgment a second time."

She made the same case to BBC News Korean in a story published Friday.

"The police can make mistakes and so can prosecutors," she told the broadcaster. "Having the power to conduct a supplementary investigation and not using it is completely different from not being able to conduct one at all."

She said other crime victims she had met opposed judicial reforms carried out without their involvement.

"My case could have ended with simply aggravated assault charges, but the prosecution's supplementary investigation is what enabled the suspect to be charged with attempted rape and murder," she said.

"Anyone would have suspected a sex crime after looking at the CCTV footage, but nobody would really look at it."

Due to the latest revisions, victims may now have to find evidence or accomplices the police missed and persuade investigators themselves, the victim added. 

Legal scholars have raised similar objections.

"The power to request supplementary investigation is not enough on its own to control police investigations effectively," over 60 academics specializing in criminal law said in a statement issued on Thursday.

"The prosecutor's supplementary investigation system needs to be reconsidered as a check on police investigations."

Park Chan-un, a professor at Hanyang University Law School, wrote on social media that the law was being released before it was ready.

"The Criminal Procedure Act is not a program you can ship as a beta version," Park wrote. "Once it takes effect, the test subjects are the public."

Another law school professor shared concerns that the revised law's safeguards wouldn't hold. 

"The provision capping supplementary investigation at one month is likely to become a dead letter, and the power to demand disciplinary action against police officers is not going to be effective either," Korea University Law School's Professor Kim Sang-hyun said. 

BY BAE JAE-SUNG [[email protected]]