Ministry of Justice to "Hear Prosecutor General's Opinion" Before Releasing Final Prosecutor Organization Reform Plan

Announcement by the end of this week at the latest
No significant reflection of the Prosecutor General's opinion expected

Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Seocho-gu, Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that it plans to announce the final draft of the prosecution organizational reform as early as the the 20th. It is reported that the final draft will go through a procedure to collect opinions from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, so the announcement may be slightly delayed. However, since there are upcoming schedules such as mid-level prosecutor personnel changes according to the organizational reform plan, it is analyzed that the announcement will not be postponed beyond this week.

According to the legal community on the 19th, the Ministry of Justice plans to submit the "Partial Amendment Ordinance on the Prosecution Office Organizational Regulations," which has completed the opinion collection from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the competent authority. It is unknown how much of the opposition opinions sent back by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office have been reflected in the revised draft. However, the dominant analysis is that there will be no major revisions. Considering the subsequent schedule such as the vice ministerial meeting deliberation on the 20th, there is physically insufficient time to reflect the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's opinions.

The Ministry of Justice will finalize the prosecution organizational reform plan after deliberation at the vice ministerial meeting, unless it is rejected. However, before the announcement of the final draft, the Ministry plans to once again collect opinions from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. This is interpreted as a measure to avoid criticism that the organizational reform plan was pushed through unilaterally. The Ministry of Justice faced backlash from the prosecution in January for announcing an organizational reform plan targeting frontline offices without consulting the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

However, even if the Ministry of Justice follows the procedure to collect opinions from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on the final draft of the prosecution organizational reform this time, the controversy over "bypassing the prosecution" is unlikely to subside. This is because sufficient time was not given to collect opinions on the initial and revised drafts, and the opinions were hardly reflected. Looking at the initial draft sent to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on the 11th, it includes strengthening the functions of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Criminal Affairs Division and Trial Division by reflecting adjustments to police investigation authority, while abolishing positions at the level of deputy chief prosecutors in direct investigation departments such as the Anti-Corruption and Violent Crimes Division and the Public Investigation Division. The prosecution conveyed an unacceptable stance on this content on the 13th. However, the Ministry of Justice submitted a slightly revised prosecution organizational reform plan to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the 14th, reducing the expansion of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Criminal Affairs Division from five to four divisions and replacing the Human Rights Supervisor with a Human Rights Policy Officer. Criticism arose inside and outside the prosecution that "the opinion collection requested from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office was essentially a mere formality."

The Ministry of Justice plans to pass the prosecution organizational reform plan at the Cabinet meeting on the 25th. Afterwards, reflecting the prosecution organizational reform plan and the status of internal recruitment and external agency-dispatched prosecutor recruitment, mid-level personnel appointments such as deputy chiefs and division chiefs are expected to be made around next week. Positions currently open for recruitment until this day include the Ministry of Justice's Human Rights Investigation Division Chief, International Criminal Division Chief, Criminal Legislation Division Chief, and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Information and Communications Division Chief, Forensic Science Analysis Division Chief, and DNA Chemical Analysis Division Chief.

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