Prosecutor Organization Reform Plan Passed at Cabinet Meeting... Internal Opposition May Surface After Personnel Changes on the 27th

Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Seocho-gu, Seoul. / Photo by Honam Moon munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The prosecution's organizational reform plan, which significantly reduces direct investigation departments within the prosecution and strengthens the criminal and trial divisions, passed the Cabinet meeting on the 25th.

The Ministry of Justice announced that the amendments to the "Regulations on the Organization of the Prosecutor's Office" and the "Enforcement Decree of the Prosecutor Staffing Act" were approved at the Cabinet meeting held at the Government Seoul Office that morning. These presidential decrees will take effect immediately once the promulgation procedure is completed by being published in the official gazette.

According to this reform plan, four deputy prosecutor-level positions within the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, including the Investigation Information Policy Officer, Senior Research Officer of the Anti-Corruption and Violent Crime Division, Public Investigation Policy Officer, and Forensic Investigation Planning Officer, will be abolished.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office expressed opinions that positions such as the Investigation Information Policy Officer, who collects investigation information and reports to the Prosecutor General, and the Senior Research Officer of the Anti-Corruption and Violent Crime Division, who acts as a bridge between the Prosecutor General and frontline offices, need to be maintained, but these were not accepted by the Ministry of Justice.

Additionally, under this reform, 14 direct investigation and dedicated investigation departments will be converted into criminal divisions.

Last October, the Ministry of Justice abolished the special investigation divisions of four prosecution offices (Incheon, Suwon, Daejeon, and Busan), excluding three prosecution offices including the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, and renamed them as Anti-Corruption Investigation Divisions.

Also, in January this year, 13 direct investigation departments, including the 3rd and 4th Anti-Corruption Investigation Divisions of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, were converted into criminal and trial divisions.

In the case of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division under the 3rd Deputy Prosecutor will move under the 4th Deputy Prosecutor, the Public Investigation Division previously under the 2nd Deputy Prosecutor will move under the 3rd Deputy Prosecutor, and criminal divisions will be distributed under the 1st to 3rd Deputy Prosecutors.

Meanwhile, inside the prosecution, there are voices of dissatisfaction that this reform plan focuses on reducing the prosecution's investigative authority and diminishing the Prosecutor General's command authority. Depending on the personnel results to be implemented this week reflecting the organizational reform plan, there is a high possibility that internal opposition within the prosecution will surface.

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