Recently, the Supreme Court confirmed the final decision to dismiss the indictment in the bribery case of Kim, a secretary of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, indicted by Special Prosecutor Min Joong-ki's team. This makes it clear that the suspicion of bribery, which was detected as a separate case by the special prosecutor while investigating the Yangpyeong Expressway suspicions, is not included in the investigation target specified in the Special Prosecutor Act. From the first trial to the Supreme Court, the court consistently judged that it was difficult to find a reasonable connection between the bribery case and the suspicion of changing the Yangpyeong Expressway route in terms of the time, place, and nature of the crime. In particular, the legislative purpose of the Special Prosecutor Act is to uncover the truth of a specific case, but it is a stern warning that expanding the scope of investigation indefinitely under the pretext of this cannot be permitted under the principles of the rule of law.

This ruling goes beyond simply determining the guilt or innocence of a public official, and clearly reveals the procedural limitations faced by the special prosecutor's investigation team. Special Prosecutor Min Joong-ki's team has been conducting an active investigation based on the provision that related crimes recognized during the investigation are included in the investigation target, but the court interpreted this too broadly and defined it as an "illegal investigation." As a result, the charges against various officials indicted by the special prosecutor team, including Secretary Kim, came to the formal conclusion of dismissal of the indictment without even being substantively examined in court. This has become a factor that has greatly reduced the momentum of the special investigation team's ambitious investigation, and the possibility of causing a domino effect that threatens the legitimacy of prosecution of other cases in the future cannot be ruled out.

Meanwhile, the 2nd comprehensive special prosecution team led by Kwon Chang-young, who inherited the baton from special prosecutor Min Joong-ki, is still expanding the scope of the investigation without slowing down. Recently, the Comprehensive Special Prosecutor's Office has newly secured the circumstances that at the time when former Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong declared the cancellation of the project, he received internal legal advice that there was a possibility of violating the law, but concealed this fact and distributed a press release that was different from the facts. This is expected to be an important clue that goes beyond the practical suspicions of the route change process and shows how the policy decision-makers at the time attempted to mislead public opinion and avoid legal responsibility. To prove this, the special prosecution team is concentrating its investigative power on uncovering the true nature of the ‘higher-ups’ by summoning officials from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport one after another.

As the basic investigation period is approaching, the Comprehensive Special Investigation Team has requested an extension of the additional investigation period with presidential approval. In addition to the Yangpyeong Expressway suspicion, there are other major issues involved, such as civil war-related suspicions and foreign exchange suspicions of the Intelligence Command, so the investigation team is in an urgent situation. However, as the court has already strictly limited the scope of the special prosecutor's investigation, the deciding factor will be how specific and direct physical evidence can be secured during the remaining period. If a clear link to the charges cannot be presented this time, criticism of the special prosecutor's unreasonable investigation will become even stronger, and the political battle is expected to reach its peak.