Credit: Public domain.
The November issue of SisaIN 시사인 magazine has the results of the first-ever large-scale poll of public attitudes toward prosecutors, a topic of increased importance given the prominence of former prosecutors in the administration of Yoon Suk-yeol 윤석열, former Supreme Prosecutor 검찰총장.
The poll revealed deep skepticism of prosecutors’ impartiality. A clear majority disagreed with the statements that “prosecutors investigate fairly in accordance with the law” (58.2%), “prosecutors aggressively investigate corruption by political and corporate leaders” (67.9%) and “prosecutors investigate fairly those who are current or former prosecutors” (77.1%). An overwhelming majority agreed that prosecutors were “authoritarian” (87.3%) and “power-hungry” (84.6%). A majority (53.4%) believed that prosecutors act politically on behalf of conservatives.
When asked why prosecutors have become increasingly powerful, 68.7% of respondents (who were allowed to make multiple selections) said “because the president is a former prosecutor,” and 65.8% said “because politicians rely on prosecutorial investigation for matters that should be resolved politically.”
Unsurprisingly, a strong majority (72.8%) said their impression of prosecutors had declined since Yoon appeared on the scene. Similarly, 66.6% of respondents said prosecutors were not investigating the government and the ruling party fairly, and 64.0% said prosecutors were unfairly targeting the opposition party and civic groups. The negative perception of prosecutors has implications for future voting patterns, as 69.8% of respondents opposed former prosecutors running in next year’s legislative election 총선, and 65.5% said they would not support a former prosecutor for president in the next election.
