Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Prosecutor Han Tae-woong
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66.
Prosecutor Han Tae-woong.
He was a quiet, meticulous prosecutor with a brilliant mind, currently making a name for himself in the Economic Crimes Division.
He was also a member of the Central District Prosecutors' Office's junior prosecutors' group, who had taken good care of Kang Hyun without making it obvious.
-Is this... who is this? Am I hearing things?
"Haha, sorry about that. You seemed busy, so I haven't been in touch."
-Eek, yeah. How've you been?
"Fine."
It wasn't hard to pick up on the emotions carried in his thick, deep voice laced with dialect. A sense of slight awkwardness mixed with genuine delight at hearing from Kang Hyun.
That was Han Tae-woong, the "gentle tough guy."
He had been the most reluctant to part ways, even though his parting words had been, "Don't call me."
He must have figured they'd cross paths someday as seniors and juniors in the field, but this surprise call seemed to catch him off guard—his voice brimmed with astonishment and joy.
"I'll give you a proper greeting next time. The reason I'm calling is... about a case."
-A case? What, you heading to jail or something?
Kang Hyun almost cracked a smile at the joking tone but kept his seriousness intact as he continued.
"Yeah. But not me. Prosecutor, do you have a juvenile suspect named Im Cheol-su in one of your investigations?"
-How should I know? I've got a ton of cases.
"The voice phishing one you're handling right now."
-Oh... that? Yeah, I know it. What's up?
"You're treating it as a direct investigation case, right?"
A direct investigation case was one handled without police involvement—the shorthand for "direct prosecution investigation."
These were cases where the prosecutors picked up leads and investigated directly. Kang Hyun knew the answer to this question was crucial. He held his breath, waiting for Han Tae-woong's response.
-But why?
Just as Kang Hyun had predicted.
'Got it.'
From what Im Cheol-su had said, the police and prosecutors had been taking turns pressuring him to come in for questioning.
That wasn't supposed to happen.
A single case was handled by one investigative agency.
Unless...
There was one exception.
When two agencies were investigating the same case independently, unaware of each other.
That was exactly the situation Im Cheol-su had described.
Kang Hyun masked his glee at Han Tae-woong's reply and spoke calmly.
"Prosecutor, this case is under duplicate investigation."
-Duplicate?
"Yes. Seocho Station is investigating Im Cheol-su too."
No sooner had he finished than Han Tae-woong responded loudly.
-Oh, really? Thanks for the heads-up. Once the police wrap it up, we can just merge it.
In other words, since the police were already investigating Im Cheol-su as a suspect, the prosecutors could skip that part and take the handoff later.
One less trivial hassle.
A faint spark of relief seemed to light up his voice, weary from overwork, but Kang Hyun's thinking ran exactly the opposite way, so he conveyed his stance.
"But the situation isn't great. That's why I'm calling."
-Why?
His tone shifted to unease, as if sensing something.
Kang Hyun explained methodically.
"Im Cheol-su's a juvenile, and it's not warranting arrest. But they executed an arrest warrant for failure to appear."
-Tsk. Looks like no coordination between them.
"The prosecutors' office didn't request the warrant directly, right?"
-Yeah. If we'd judged it necessary and requested it directly, we'd have known about the police investigation due to overlapping procedures. Hold on. Team leader?
Han Tae-woong quickly checked with a staffer in the office, readjusted the receiver, and spoke to Kang Hyun.
-We just issued a designation notice. How's coordination this bad?
A "designation notice" was the prosecutors' lowest-level wanted measure—basically, "notify them to appear if encountered."
It meant they didn't see the need for jail or cuffs.
Clearly, in Han Tae-woong's office, Im Cheol-su was low-priority due to low involvement and young age.
In other words, the police had overreached for the stats.
From the police perspective, they'd gotten an arrest warrant approved mechanically by the prosecutors and issued by the court, so no hesitation.
In a way, it was a big win for little effort—the immediate gains blinded them to the truth.
"Yes, Prosecutor. That's about right. Arrest was excessive. Prosecutors' Office Case Handling Regulations Article 59: A prosecutor may retrieve the arrest warrant from the executor when execution is no longer necessary."
-Yeah, you know your stuff. But it's already been executed, right?
"Yes."
-Hmm... Guess it'd be better if we take over the case.
Criminal Procedure Act Article 197-4.
A prosecutor could demand that judicial police send over a case if investigating the same offense.
-But that might not be easy either...
Criminal Procedure Act Article 197-4, Paragraph 2.
However, if judicial police applied for a warrant on the same offense before the prosecutor did, they could continue investigating the offense stated in the warrant.
"The police might refuse."
-Exactly. What's the vibe over there?
"Not good."
Han Tae-woong seemed to share Kang Hyun's thinking.
That was the situation.
No matter how much they wanted to shift the case to prosecutors to curb the overreach, with the court-issued warrant already executed, they couldn't halt the police investigation.
But Kang Hyun had already accounted for that.
"So just pass along a word for me. They won't listen to a thing I say."
-Ask them to send it over?
"That'd be undue influence."
Kang Hyun had no intention of using shady tactics.
"I'm going to apply for a review of the arrest's legality."
-Review of legality?
Criminal Procedure Act Article 214-2.
An arrested suspect, their defense counsel, legal representative, spouse, direct relatives, siblings, family, cohabitant, or employer could request the competent court review the arrest's legality.
"Yes. So I need a favor. The police seem dead set on interrogating him. Could you tell them to let him use a computer?"
Instead, he was resorting to the best legitimate procedure available.
In practice, "arrest legality reviews" were rare. After 48 hours post-arrest, release was automatic unless a detention warrant was requested, so over 90% went to detention warrant hearings.
In that timeframe, with police pulling out all stops to detain Im Cheol-su, no one bothered with an arrest review—it fell on deaf ears.
That's why Kang Hyun thought of Han Tae-woong.
Since it was already a duplicate case, he had a say, and they needed to coordinate and merge beforehand.
Even if shifting the case proved tricky, police couldn't outright refuse cooperation on an arrest review from the suspect's side.
Han Tae-woong advised Kang Hyun earnestly.
-You know courts almost never reverse on these, right?
"Yes."
-And there's no real upside.
"Yes, I know. After 48 hours, if the detention warrant's denied, automatic release. Still, I think we need to prove the impropriety."
-Sigh, got it... Which team?
"Seocho Station Financial Fraud Team 1."
-Gotcha.
Click. The call ended abruptly.
Kang Hyun stared blankly at the receiver for a moment before striding confidently toward the task force office.
"...No, Prosecutor. Yes, we'll judge appropriately and review it."
Click-.
Yoo Geon-hyeong stared at Kang Hyun in shock.
"..."
What on earth was this Kang Hyun guy?
What had he done in those 10 minutes out, and what had just happened?
Yoo Geon-hyeong was utterly clueless.
"...Kang Hyun. What do you want?"
"Just do the interview as an acknowledgment, then hold him for a bit."
-Sigh... Fine.
"And I'm filing for the arrest review. You can decide the investigation direction after the ruling."
Kang Hyun stated his position clearly, word for word.
"Also... I don't have a laptop, so could I borrow a computer for a bit?"
Then, like any shy student, he politely asked the detective.
Watching him, Yoo Geon-hyeong couldn't steady his flickering eyes.
Seventeen years on the job.
He'd seen it all—dangerous cases, shocking twists.
But this was a first.
He'd known Kang Hyun was some kind of genius prodigy...
'To this extent?'
He remembered exactly what he'd thought when Kang Hyun said he'd step out for 10 minutes.
-What can he do? Maybe call the kid's mom.
But in mere minutes, he'd flipped the case 180 degrees.
The situation: duplicate investigation between police and prosecutors. They needed to unify agencies before proceeding.
Plus, prosecutors viewed Im Cheol-su as lightly involved, per Kang Hyun—heavy-handed warrant didn't sit right with them.
So Kang Hyun's request to await the court's arrest review ruling before deciding direction? Beyond absurd.
The detective ventured cautiously.
"...This is my first time seeing an arrest review as a cop, too."
"I understand, Sergeant."
"We have a general PC, so I'll check if you can use it."
As Yoo Geon-hyeong moved to get it, he glanced back at Kang Hyun.
Prosecutors being amenable to a suspect's arrest review? Unheard of normally.
Sure, by law, suspects, family, acquaintances, guardians could request it.
But practically, it almost never succeeded.
Main reason: no real benefit. Unlike detention reviews.
Even if you poured money and effort into an exceptional ruling favoring the suspect, it barely shaved time off the 48-hour auto-release.
Conversely, if detained within 48 hours via warrant, you'd fight the detention review.
In short, arrest reviews were usually pointless.
That's why police and prosecutors explained why they were meaningless.
Yoo Geon-hyeong too.
Nine out of ten backed down after his spiel.
He'd prepped arguments expecting Kang Hyun to pull the "unlawful arrest" card.
Why issue the warrant? Court deemed guilt likely.
Mostly futile, just delays and stress.
He'd been geared up to say all that.
But Kang Hyun rendered him speechless.
Direct call from prosecutors: fast-track the arrest review, or send the case over immediately.
Unprecedented, first time for a prosecutor's request too.
In sum, impossible.
"Sergeant Yoo Geon-hyeong?"
"Y-Yes? Oh, yes."
Kang Hyun snapped the deeply lost-in-thought detective back to reality.