On March 18, South Korean President Moon Jae In received reports of the cases regarding the late actress Jang Ja Yeon, former Vice-minister of Ministry of Justice Kim Hak Eui, and the club Burning Sun. The president responded by ordering a thorough investigation to be performed on all three cases.

President Moon Jae In began, “There are cases that show extremely strong suspicions in the eyes of our citizens, but the truths haven’t been discovered for a long time, and [the truth for] some of them were even concealed.”

The president acknowledged the fact that the cases all happened within the privileged class, and there are suspicions that investigative organizations such as the prosecution and the police deliberately performed weak investigations to protect the suspects and conceal the truth in the past.

He continued, “If we fail to clarify the truth behind the cases that occurred within the privileged class, we will not be able to talk of a righteous society.”

Regarding the allegations of high-rank officers using their power to protect the suspects in various cases, the president said, “These cases may have happened in the past, but keep in mind that revealing the truth and exposing embarrassing facts [about themselves] in order to be reborn as trustworthy investigative agencies is a mission that needs to be carried out with responsibility by the current leaders of the prosecution and the police.”

He added, “The prosecution and the police will not be able to restore their fairness and public’s confidence in them as inspection agencies if they fail to reflect on their past of being powerless regarding the cases involving influential people, as well as clearly revealing the truth behind suspicions of deliberately performing weak investigation to protect and conceal [the truth from coming out].”

The president also mentioned the cases regarding clubs in the Gangnam District. He called out for a thorough investigation to be performed on the allegations of the club owners using illegal methods of running the establishments, such as providing drugs and sexual favors to their customers, as well as receiving special treatment from authoritative organizations.

The president continued by saying that while these particular cases happened in the past administration, there is a possibility that crimes with similar patterns may have happened during the current administration. Therefore, he mentioned the need for a thorough investigation and questioning that punish all people regardless of their social standing.

President Moon Jae In concluded by addressing the key point of the cases. He said,” The key point is to discover the tangible truth behind the cases and the suspicions of special treatment given by investigative organizations such as the prosecution, the police, and the National Tax Service.”

“The powerful people with connections were able to hide the truth and receive acquittal for the illegal activities and crimes they committed, while powerless citizens who were unfairly victimized had to tremble in fear without the protection of the law,” continued President Moon Jae In.

“I emphasize once again that if we are unable to straighten out [the truth], we will never be able to talk of a righteous society. I ask that the Minister of Justice and the Minister of National Security take responsibility to reveal the truth and clarify each and every suspicion that was raised about the various cases.”

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