Prosecutors Equaled to Police... Internal Backlash Within the Prosecutor's Office Inevitable

Proposals for Prosecutor and Police Reform
Legally Enforce Prosecutor Investigation Scope
Defined as a 'Passive Investigation Agency'
Refusal to Recognize Exception Investigations
Autonomous Police System to Control Police Militarization
Unification of National Police and Organization

Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae is delivering opening remarks at the 'Party-Government-Civil Service Council for Power Institution Reform for the People' held at the National Assembly on the 30th. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy reporters Lee Gwan-ju and Kim Hyung-min] Detailed provisions for the practical implementation of the adjustment of investigative authority between the prosecution and the police, including the relationship setting between the prosecution and police, the permissible scope of prosecution investigations, and control measures for the overgrown police, have been finalized. The 'Power Institution Reform Plan' announced on the morning of the 30th after consultations among the Democratic Party of Korea, the government, and the Blue House focuses on drastically reducing the prosecution's investigative functions. The most notable point is that the prosecution's first-level direct investigation targets are limited to six types of crimes (corruption, economy, public officials, elections, defense projects, and major disasters).

▲ No exceptions allowed for investigations outside the prosecution's first-level investigative scope = The government considered allowing the prosecution to initiate investigations on cases that are socially significant or involve harm to a large number of citizens, beyond the six crimes, with the approval of the Minister of Justice as an exception. However, this provision was excluded in the final consultation among the party, government, and Blue House. Cho Nam-gwan, Director of the Prosecution Bureau at the Ministry of Justice, explained in a briefing after the consultation, "There was internal agreement to exclude it due to potential controversy over the Minister of Justice's regulations under Article 8 of the Prosecutors' Office Act, the independence of investigations, and political neutrality."

This series of measures stems from the awareness that the prosecution's authority to recognize cases on its own and proactively initiate investigations has enabled 'political prosecution.' It is necessary to legally enforce the prosecution's investigative scope and define it as a 'passive' investigative agency. Previously, the Ministry of Justice implemented an organizational reform plan that abolished 13 direct investigation departments, reduced the prosecution chief's investigative command authority, and expanded the Minister of Justice's investigative command authority to high prosecutors, following recommendations from the Ministry of Justice and Prosecution Reform Committee, all in the same context.

Reducing the prosecution's power in investigations also aims to maintain an equal relationship with the police. The party, government, and Blue House declared in this consultation their intention to establish a horizontal cooperative relationship between the prosecution and police in investigations and to set up regular investigative councils where they can exchange opinions. It is also notable that prior consultation is mandated when the prosecution and police have differing opinions on important investigative procedures. Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae said in her opening remarks at the consultation, "Through this investigative authority reform, we expect to disperse the excessive powers concentrated in the prosecution, newly establish roles between the prosecution and police, and realize a new criminal justice system that fully protects citizens' human rights."

The results of this party-government-Blue House consultation are expected to provoke controversy and strong opposition from the prosecution and legal circles. The prosecution chief did not participate in this consultation either. Recently, Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Yong-min proposed an amendment to the Prosecutors' Office Act to downgrade the prosecution chief from ministerial to vice-ministerial level, and this, combined with Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl's absence from the consultation, has led to analysis that it is part of efforts to weaken the prosecution chief's power.

Plans to accelerate the launch of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) were also announced. With the National Assembly's Steering Committee passing the 'CIO follow-up three laws' the day before, the legal foundation for establishing the CIO has been laid. However, many hurdles remain. The immediate challenge is forming the candidate recommendation committee. According to the CIO Act, the United Future Party, which can recommend two of the seven members, is refusing to make recommendations. Kim Tae-nyeon, floor leader of the Democratic Party, said, "The launch of the CIO is urgent and important to complete power institution reform through checks and balances," and requested, "The United Future Party should stop delaying and promptly recommend the opposition party's members."

▲ Local police to be integrated with the national police organization without separate placement = Measures to control the excessive power of the police following the reduction of the prosecution's investigative scope are also being pursued. A representative example is the local police system. The local police system promotion plan announced through the party-government-Blue House consultation is largely consistent with the proposal submitted to the 20th National Assembly. The framework is the so-called 'three-branch separation' of police authority: the existing national police handle nationwide tasks such as security policy formulation and intelligence/security; local police handle community-related tasks such as traffic, security, and public safety; and a separately established 'National Investigation Headquarters' handles investigative duties.

However, there are some refined details. The most notable is that the local police will not be placed in separate offices but will be integrated with the existing provincial police agencies and police stations. The party-government-Blue House explained this was considered due to the excessive costs of establishing new organizations. However, concerns have been raised that issues such as treatment disparities between the national and local police may arise, and that practically performing police duties within a single agency means there may be little difference from the current national police system.

Minor changes are also expected in the city/provincial local police committees that manage and supervise local police affairs. First, the number of committee members will increase from five to seven, and adding civic groups as external recommending bodies is under consideration. Also, the city/provincial governor can only appoint the committee chairperson, and the chairperson can recommend one of the externally appointed members as a standing member. Formally, the governor's influence applies to only two of the seven members. Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Young-bae said, "It is important to establish an operational plan that allows the governor to bear significant responsibility and support in work but minimizes direct political and operational involvement," adding, "This can be sufficiently discussed during the subsequent legislative proposal and enforcement decree drafting process."

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