‘Innocent’ female prosecutor targeted in Cho investigation
Amid the prolonged investigation into Justice Minister Cho Kuk and his family, a female prosecutor has been wrongly criticized over what Cho’s supporters call “the prosecution’s reckless and excessive investigation.” Since Sept. 23 when prosecutors searched Cho’s home as part of their investigation into the corruption allegations, the prosecutor — who was involved in the search — has been the target of abusive language online, and false information about her has spread on social media.
During the search, six prosecutors visited Cho’s home and stayed for nearly 11 hours, during which they had food delivered to the home as Cho’s family suggested eating lunch together, according to the prosecution.
When the investigation team first visited the house, Cho’s surprised wife called her husband and put one of them on the phone. Cho said he told the prosecutor to allow his wife to relax because of her health condition. He said he was “asking a favor as a husband,” while the opposition sees it as “unfair interference with the search as justice minister.”
After the search, people began to point fingers at the only female prosecutor among them, a 46-year-old surnamed Kim, as the one who had the phone conversation with Cho. Although it was not true, Cho’s supporters shared her photo and personal details such as age, birth and education background on social media such as Facebook and Twitter, to encourage online harassment. Even personal information on Kim’s husband, who is also a prosecutor, was revealed online.
One post, under the title “A prosecutor who searched Minister Cho’s home,” claimed the prosecution’s search was aimed at humiliating Cho and that the minister’s wife collapsed from shock because of the 11-hour search during which the female prosecutor attempted to search through the luxury goods there — which is not true, according to the prosecution.
Internet users made further remarks belittling Kim’s appearance by saying “she looks like a person who would protest the government.”
False information that the prosecutors ordered Korean-Chinese black noodles for lunch also led to comments mocking Kim, such as “she looks like a person who has a good appetite for black noodles.”
Prosecutors say people should not engage indiscreet slander and stop attacking an investigator who was only doing her job as a public servant.
They also said they are looking into the acts that spread false information about the investigation.
Meanwhile, a public poll showed nearly half of people say the prosecution’s investigation into the justice minister’s family is appropriate.
According to the poll conducted by Realmeter, Friday, 49.3 percent of the respondents said the investigation was appropriate while 46.2 percent called it excessive. The other 4.5 percent said they didn’t care or had no opinion.