You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 627

You Have Been Defended – Episode 627

As per the Special Prosecutor Act, the recommendation of three special prosecutor candidates was decided to be handled by the Bar Association, as we had originally planned.

The Bar Association, having been granted the authority to recommend, sent official letters to lawyer organizations, including local bar associations, requesting the recommendation of suitable candidates.

Even though it was under the jurisdiction of the Bar Association, if there was a lawyer strongly desired by public opinion, there was no reason not to exclude them as a candidate unless there were significant disqualifications.

Especially in this case, the entire nation was showing considerable support for the investigation and closely monitoring the situation, which made it even more so.

Perhaps because special prosecutors had often developed close relationships with those they investigated after the special investigation ended, public opinion also wanted someone they could trust to become the special prosecutor.

Therefore, it was very natural for the public to discuss who would be the right person, regardless of the venue.

[Kwon Jae-rok seems good. He has a long career and investigated aggressively during the Wooshin accounting fraud case in the past.

└ㄴㄴ Kwon Jae-rok is very close to the guys on the ledger now. There are old photos of them circulating. They’re not just casually close.

Lee Soo-han looks good too.

└Lee Soo-han doesn’t meet the requirements. He’s run for election before.

└Lee Soo-han ran for election too? ㄷㄷ

└ㅇㅇ He failed miserablyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Honestly, I think the answer is obvious. There’s no one but Cha Joo-han. Onodera has repeatedly mentioned that Go Sang-joon is terrified of Cha Joo-han.

└He’s too young.

└What do you mean Cha Joo-hanㅋㅋㅋㅋ How can a greenhorn lead a special investigation team? The dispatched prosecutors alone will have enormous experience.

└He’s a bit young, but in terms of seniority, he has a long career. He’s in the 29th class. This year’s entrants are the 43rd class.

└Among the famous people in the 29th class is attorney Bong Gi-seok (the guy from the divorce counseling program/known as Bongbyun). He’s from a fairly senior class.

└Wait, Bongbyun and Cha Joo-han are in the same class?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ They look like uncle and nephew.

└There’s not that much age difference. Don’t be so harsh on Bongbyun. Apologize to him.

The guys on the ledger are widely distributed in political and business circles, so no matter how much you bring in prominent lawyers with experience, it’s not reassuringㅋㅋ

└Wooshin has spread shit all over the place, so it’s hard to filter out.

└Even if you find a good guy, there’s always a disqualification… And there’s always something fishy.

└Among the people mentioned so far, Cha Joo-han is the only one without any fishy points (except for his age).

└Why are you excluding age? It’s subtly important.

└Someone who might conduct a lenient investigation vs. a young person. Choose the latterㅋㅋㅋㅋ

It’s pretty well known that Lee Se-hwa put a lot of effort into recruiting Cha Joo-han, right? It violates fair investigation due to political leaning ㅇㅇ

└What nonsense is this? He didn’t join the party. In the end, Cha Joo-han criticized Lee Se-hwa, didn’t he?ㅋㅋㅋ

└He didn’t join the party, but doesn’t that mean he’s close to that side politically? Kang Min-jae from the same law firm is Kang Kwan-woong’s grandson.

└You’re so naive. If you’re Korean, especially if you’re a lawyer, it’s harder to find someone without political leaning. Have you ever seen someone without any political leaning around you? ㅋㅋㅋ

└Whoever takes on the role will inevitably have personal political leanings. That’s why the disqualification is limited to people with party affiliation ㅇㅇ

└If you work with Kang Min-jae, does that automatically mean you support the ruling party? Then don’t you have colleagues at your company who support the Minwoo Party? If so, are you automatically a supporter of the Minwoo Party too?ㅋㅋㅋ What’s wrong with your logicㅋㅋㅋ

Cha Joo-han is someone who has desperately tried to destroy Wooshin and survived all sorts of ordeals, and even instilled fear in Go Sang-joon. If the only problem is that he’s young, isn’t he worth entrusting? Lee Se-hwa also likes young people… The Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs is in his early 40sㅎ

└Why doesn’t Cha Joo-han have any disqualifications? He’s the victimㅋㅋ Can a victim investigating be called a fair investigation? If it were me, I would try to destroy them with all my might.

└You don’t seem to know, but it’s true that if a judge is a victim, it becomes a reason for recusal [disqualification]. But it doesn’t apply to prosecutors.

└Why not?

└It’s a long story to explain, but all prosecutors are seen as one body. That’s why the command and control system is strict. In practice, it’s handled by reassigning the case, but legally, it’s not a reason for recusal. There are already related precedents. Above all, the special prosecutor’s investigation scope doesn’t include the dump truck murder-for-hire case. The facts have already been revealed. So, even if attorney Cha Joo-han becomes the special prosecutor, he’s not a victim of the investigation case.]

“What do you think?”

I asked, receiving Kang Min-jae’s expectant gaze as I read the website comments on the phone he handed me.

“What do you mean, what do I think?”

“The last comment. I think it explains it well in an easy-to-understand way. The principle of prosecutorial unity [the idea that all prosecutors act as a single entity]. With this, people won’t be able to find fault, right?”

“You wrote this comment, didn’t you, Attorney Kang?”

I asked, skimming through the comment again.

Then, Kang Min-jae widened his eyes and shouted.

“How did you know?!”

“There’s an edit button next to it.”

“Ah……. But other people don’t know.”

“Doesn’t it seem like someone with suspiciously extensive knowledge on the matter? And everyone else just says Cha Joo-han, but you’re the only one who says Attorney Cha Joo-han.”

“Wouldn’t it just look like someone in the legal profession who supports you? Or a law student.”

[└He knows so much. Is he a prosecutor?

└He must be a prosecutor quietly supporting Cha Joo-hanㅋㅋㅋ

└Seeing that he’s getting support from prosecutors, Cha Joo-hwan must be the right personㅋㅋㅋ Those who are steeped in the command and control system are acknowledging a greenhorn

└Cha Joo-hwan ㄴ Cha Joo-han ㅇ]

In the meantime, a reply was posted to Kang Min-jae’s comment.

Kang Min-jae made an embarrassed expression but soon turned off the phone screen, put it in his pocket, and shouted.

“Still, it went in a positive direction! They say you’re getting support from prosecutors!”

This isn’t the first time Kang Min-jae has posted comments defending me while pretending not to be himself.

It’s nothing new to scold him about, so I ignored him and quietly lit a cigarette.

“So far, there are a lot of comments saying you’re suitable as a special prosecutor.”

Kang Min-jae went into YouTube, searched for a video, and set up his phone using the ashtray as a stand, then played it.

“What is this?”

“It’s a YouTube video of Bong Sunbae’s interview.”

Bong Sunbae, is that the lawyer with the nickname Bongbyun who was mentioned in the comments earlier?

I know he’s my classmate from the Judicial Research and Training Institute [a postgraduate program for aspiring judges, prosecutors, and lawyers], but I don’t remember him well.

[(Q. It’s been hot lately because of the special prosecutor appointment. Do you know about it?)

You’d be a spy if you didn’t know.

(Q. I guess you know who’s the hottest among them?)

Ah, I know. I see why the PD [Producer] suddenly wanted to meet. It’s because of attorney Cha Joo-han, right?

(Q. You’re classmates from the Judicial Research and Training Institute. It’s a huge topic these days that you mentioned in passing that you were classmates with attorney Cha Joo-han!)

Ah, we’re not close. What if attorney Cha Joo-han gets upset when he sees this? I was just casually mentioning a famous person.

(Q. Still. Attorney Cha Joo-han is a young lawyer, and it’s unprecedented for a lawyer of this age to be appointed as a special prosecutor, so there are comments that it’s unusual for him to be mentioned as a candidate.)

Um, let me start with a premise. I’m not close to attorney Cha Joo-han. But what I can say is, putting aside my opinion and all that, if we judge objectively… he’ll be very good at his job if you entrust it to him.

(Q. Why do you think so?)

First of all, no one has ever defeated attorney Cha Joo-han in mock trials. Of course, special prosecutors don’t usually go to trial, but they could. The defendants will definitely appoint senior lawyers with tremendous legal experience as their defense attorneys, so I’m looking forward to seeing what he’ll show.

(Q. Oh, oh. Any other reasons?)

Also, you know that attorney Cha Joo-han was audited a few years ago, right? People are bound to have some dirt if you dig into them. But it was surprising that no dirt came out. With a lot of income, you can save taxes by processing expenses. No, it’s ambiguous to call it tax saving. Should I just say it’s natural? But he didn’t do it and just paid all the taxes as he earned them. It would have been reduced to a fraction if he had processed expenses.

(Q. Is it because he has no greed?)

I don’t know. But who has no greed? And if you have no greed at all, you wouldn’t have started a law firm, right? But I highly value the fact that he doesn’t try to use so-called sly tactics.

(Q. I see. Well, taxes do feel very wasteful.)

Also, attorney Cha Joo-han has shown very good performance from his days as a prosecutor until now. Honestly, I think it’s unprecedented. Everyone will acknowledge that. Even people who hate attorney Cha Joo-han can’t criticize his skills.]

I’m looking at his face throughout the video, but I don’t have any special memories of him, and even though he says I defeated him in a mock trial, I don’t remember it well.

I know that attorney Bong is saying good things about me, but it’s embarrassing and painful to listen to.

I put out my cigarette in the ashtray and asked Kang Min-jae.

“Why are you showing me this?”

“Ah, watch more.”

At Kang Min-jae’s insistence, I fixed my gaze on the video again.

[Ah, and there’s another important reason.

(Q. What is it?)

Well, first of all, he’s handsome. There’s a saying that in some countries, people who should be celebrities are farming in the fields. In our country, people who should be celebrities are working as lawyers. Isn’t this an increase in national prestige? It’s a case that foreign media is also paying attention to. Hahaha. I’m just kidding. Don’t edit it strangely!]

I sighed.

It was absurd that Kang Min-jae made me watch the video until the end, even though I said I didn’t want to, just to let me hear this.

“Why don’t you do an interview?”

Kang Min-jae asked, checking news clip videos.

“If you look here, people who are frequently mentioned by netizens have also done interviews, saying that they’ll work really hard if they’re given the special prosecutor position.”

Even now, my name is being mentioned quite often, so interview requests are flooding in from all directions.

I used the skills I learned from Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon to switch my phone to airplane mode and defend against their approaches.

“There are already a lot of comments saying I’m too young, so it’s better not to do anything that would make me look excited. It’s better to look prudent.”

“You’re actually prudent, aren’t you?”

“Exactly. I’m actually prudent, but if I receive an interview request and say, ‘I’ll work hard if you give it to me,’ it might not look prudent.”

“That’s true. Anyway, it’s a relief that public opinion is favorable. The age resistance will be less than other times because the president appointed such a young person.”

The Wooshin special investigation in my previous life was in 2018.

And at that time, I was in my mid-40s.

I couldn’t become a special prosecutor at the time because I was a prosecutor, but if I had been a lawyer, I would have been told that I was a bit young, but I wouldn’t have been told that I couldn’t do it because of my age.

But this life started the special investigation much earlier than I had expected, and I became too young to be a special prosecutor.

Just thinking about my feelings, my age feels like it’s approaching fifty, combining 10 years from my previous life and more than 4 years from this life.

To think that I’m being called a greenhorn.

* * *

A week after the president requested the Bar Association to recommend special prosecutor candidates.

The Bar Association recommended three special prosecutor candidates:

Kwon Hak-min, Seung Hyun-joon, Cha Joo-han.

The other two candidates recommended with me were, of course, my seniors.

I passed the bar exam quite early compared to my age, so the classes are 10 or 11 classes apart, but considering the age difference, there was a 15 or 14 year difference.

None of them had any disqualifications, and apart from being alumni of the same university as the people involved in this case, or being in the same class at the Judicial Research and Training Institute, or having worked in the same place, there were no prominent friendships.

But as is the reality of the legal profession in Korea, there is no way to avoid overlapping university alumni and Judicial Research and Training Institute classes.

I was also an alumnus of the same university as most of them.

The only difference is that there is a difference in experience, so there is not much contact with the people involved in the case.

The recommendation letter released by the Bar Association briefly described the information of the three candidates, and the careers of the two people other than me were very impressive.

Compared to the prominent titles such as High Prosecutor’s Office Chief, Branch Manager, District Prosecutor, and Head of the Central Investigation Department of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, my career in the prosecution was extremely short.

Perhaps conscious of this, they included various experiences as a lawyer and included the content that there were strong recommendations from public opinion and the Seoul Bar Association.

Another two days passed like that.

“Isn’t it almost time for the announcement?!”

Kang Min-jae and Secretary Oh were unusually flustered and turned on the office TV.

Then, they dragged me out of my room and sat me right in front of the TV in the conference room.

When I turned on the power, the image of the podium with the symbol of the Blue House [the South Korean presidential residence] engraved on it was projected from the news channel that was originally set.

Soon after, the spokesperson for the Blue House walked out and bowed.

[Today, President Lee Se-hwa appointed attorney Cha Joo-han as the special prosecutor among the three special prosecutor candidates recommended by the Korean Bar Association. The Blue House expects special prosecutor Cha Joo-han to investigate Wooshin’s human trafficking and illegal lobbying allegations in political and business circles fairly and objectively.]

“Wow! It’s the special prosecutor!”

When my name was called, Kang Min-jae threw the documents he was holding into the air for some reason and shouted.

“Congratulations on your appointment as special prosecutor.”

Amid the papers fluttering in the air, Secretary Oh, who was still holding on to his sanity, jumped up and extended his hand to me.

I had already received a call before the announcement, but I wondered why he was doing this, but I shook his hand.

“No. Now you’re the special prosecutor. Congratulations, Special Prosecutor Cha Joo-han.”

Kang Min-jae also stood next to Secretary Oh and extended his hand to me.

It was around the time I let go of Secretary Oh’s hand to respond to his handshake.

─Is he inside?

─I think so.

─Ah, don’t push!

─There’s no one at the desk, are you sure he’s really there?