Ulsan City Expands Special Judicial Police Duties

From This Year, Direct Investigation of Medical and Pharmaceutical Law Violations Followed by Prosecution Referral

Ulsan City Hall exterior view (Photo by Ulsan City)

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Yoseop, Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Jonghyo] The scope of duties for the special judicial police in Ulsan City will be expanded starting this year.

Ulsan City announced on the 2nd that it will add the medical and pharmaceutical fields, which are closely related to citizens' health, to the scope of duties of the special judicial police and begin implementation. Accordingly, cases involving violations of the Medical Service Act and the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, which were previously monitored by district and county health centers and reported to the local police stations, will from this year be received directly by the Ulsan City Civil Affairs Judicial Police Division, which will investigate the cases and then forward them to the prosecution.

This will enable a prompt response to increasingly sophisticated crimes such as the operation of sham hospitals, unlicensed medical practices, establishment of pharmacies by unqualified persons, and drug substitution, significantly contributing to the improvement of citizens' sense of safety in medical life.

When the Civil Affairs Judicial Police Division was established in 2013, it started with five duty areas including origin labeling, and added the real estate field early last year. Starting this year, the medical and pharmaceutical fields will be added, allowing direct investigation of cases in a total of eight duty areas: youth, origin, food, public hygiene, environment, real estate, medical, and pharmaceutical.

As of the end of November last year, the Ulsan City Civil Affairs Judicial Police Division handled 96 case transfers through case recognition, reports, and planned investigations (youth 1, origin 3, food 37, public hygiene 6, environment 40, real estate 9), which is a 15.7% increase compared to 83 cases during the same period the previous year.

Kim Seok-ki, head of the Ulsan City Civil Affairs Judicial Police Division, stated, “We will strongly crack down on civil livelihood offenders who threaten citizens' health and safety,” and added, “We plan to promptly investigate detected cases according to relevant laws and forward them to the prosecution.”

Currently, Ulsan has about 2,700 medical institutions and pharmaceutical businesses, including 1,363 medical institutions, 423 pharmacies, 53 pharmaceutical wholesalers, and 878 stores selling over-the-counter drugs. In the past three years, about 40 cases involving violations of the Medical Service Act and Pharmaceutical Affairs Act have been referred by district and county health centers to the police, averaging about 13 cases per year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.