[EXPLAINER] Why Korea's liberals see prosecutors as political enemy

The ruling liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is pushing through a bill that would strip prosecutors of their investigative authority, seeking an end to years of bruising “prosecution reform” battles and what many in the party view as a politicized, uncontrollable power at the heart of the justice system.

Under the new system, investigations and indictments would be split between new agencies, with one dedicated to investigations and the other to bringing charges and shepherding them through trial, effectively dismantling the Prosecutors’ Office's dual role, which was established in 1948.

Distrust rooted in trauma Many outside observers find the governing party’s relentless campaign to weaken its own prosecutors puzzling, but for Korea’s liberals, the prosecution has come to embody a long history of politicized investigations.

Much of that distrust is rooted in trauma: A probe targeting late former President Roh Moo-hyun, which played a role in his suicide in 2009, cemented an image of prosecutors as political hitmen.

Subsequent investigations into key liberal figures, par ...