[Editorial] Has Prosecution 'Surrendered' or is it 'Incompetent'

"As expected," the investigation into how workers at Samsung SDI had their mobile phone positions traced has fizzled out. The Seoul Central Prosecutor's Office has decided to stop pursuing the "unidentified figure" who traced workers' positions, and to relieve Samsung group president Lee Kun Hee and seven others of their status as witnesses.

Ultimately, it has become very likely the truth behind this weird case, in which a mobile phone owned by a dead person was used to keep track of current and former employees, will remain buried in mystery forever. Granted, not all cases are always uncovered in their entirety. More than a few cases run into dead ends. In this case, however, there was a lot of circumstantial evidence. All those who were monitored were involved in organizing the union in one way or another. The monitoring repeatedly concentrated on their locations after they got off of work, and over a long period of time. The activity took place simultaneously at Samsung SDI's plants in Suwon and Ulsan. Even a child could sense who was behind the activity.

It is more than just disappointing, it is cause for concern when the prosecution is unable to find out anything after a six-month investigation, because it means more than just incompetence. Those who filed the complaint with the prosecution ask whether it would be able to catch an anti-state terrorist engaged in the same activity, and you wonder what the prosecution would say in response. What happened is a violation of international laws on human rights and an infringement on civil rights as guaranteed by the constitution. If the authorities are unable to ascertain the truth behind a case about which the basic hints are clear, then who will the people be able to turn to when their civil rights are violated?

This year as well, Samsung is being criticized for a case in which union organizers were allegedly given bribes. It is immoral and wrong for the prosecution to ignore or excuse a jaebeol when it repeatedly tramples on the rights of laborers. If the suggestion that officials have surrendered to Samsung is just a misunderstanding, then they themselves should set out to restore their reputation.

The Hankyoreh, 18 February 2005.

[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]