Prosecutor Urges Customs Agency to Address Drug Smuggling Allegations

Im Eun-jung, chief prosecutor of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, has called on the Korea Customs Service to explain and implement institutional improvements regarding allegations that customs officials were involved in drug smuggling, after her office cleared the officials of charges.

"This is now a matter for the Lee Jae-myung administration's Customs Service. I ask that the Customs Service provide explanations and publicize institutional improvements," Im said in a social media post Wednesday, revealing she had sent an email with this message to the Commissioner of the Korea Customs Service following the announcement of the no-charges decision.

"President Lee Jae-myung criticized the Customs Service during a recent work briefing," Im said. "Given the president's strong interest in this case, I assume he received a detailed report on the investigation results, so this is likely not unrelated."

She added, "While customs cannot catch every drug smuggler, there are so many citizens raising questions and feeling anxious that I expect appropriate action from the Customs Service."

Im's remarks came as Police Superintendent Baek Hae-ryong and some ruling party supporters continue to protest the no-charges decision. Her comments appear intended to suggest that since the prosecution's investigation results are legitimate, it is the Customs Service's responsibility to quell the backlash.

Over the weekend, Baek posted multiple times on social media attacking Im and the prosecution. He shared what he described as "an original reply from a Customs Service employee who saw the Eastern District Prosecutors' Office announcement," claiming there were no personnel reductions or organizational changes at the Customs Service during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that drug enforcement equipment was not insufficient.

This was a rebuttal to the Eastern District Prosecutors' Office announcement on January 12 that at the time of the incidents, there was insufficient legal basis and equipment to inspect the bodies and belongings of people entering the country.

The previous day, Baek claimed the Eastern District Prosecutors' Office was "acting as a spokesperson for the Customs Service" and that "the prosecution is spreading false information with distorted facts and trying to deceive the public," calling for a public investigation for the sake of the people's right to know.

Meanwhile, Im also mentioned Prosecutor Jeong Yu-mi, who was effectively demoted to a high prosecutors' office-level position at the Ministry of Justice's Legal Research and Training Institute in recent personnel changes.

"She was present in February 2018 when Yoon Dae-jin, then deputy chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, recommended I go abroad for policy training, and when I exposed this, she was the colleague who told me to be careful with my words and actions," Im said. "After emerging from that swamp, I became convinced that the truth eventually comes out and justice prevails."

Im added that the prosecution should adopt a rotation system like the courts, where chief prosecutors could serve again as senior prosecutors, saying, "I am also preparing myself mentally for this."