Police Granted 'Primary Investigation Termination Authority'... 2,900 Cases 'Non-Prosecution Decisions' in First Ten Days of New Year

On the 4th, the signboard of the National Investigation Headquarters hung at the Seoul Seodaemun-gu Police Agency. From this year, the police organization has been divided into national, autonomous, and investigative police, and with the abolition of the prosecutor's investigation command authority, the police have gained the primary investigation conclusion authority, drawing significant attention to the National Investigation Headquarters overseeing investigations. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] Following the adjustment of investigative authority between the prosecution and the police, since January 1 of this year, when the police were granted primary authority to conclude investigations, it has been revealed that nearly 3,000 cases have been closed by the police with a 'non-prosecution decision.'

A National Investigation Headquarters official from the National Police Agency stated at a press briefing on the 11th, "Approximately 14,000 cases were concluded from the 1st to the 10th," adding, "Among these, about 2,900 cases were decided as non-prosecution by the police."

The types of cases for which the police made 'non-prosecution decisions' included traffic accidents, accounting for about 1,150 cases or roughly 40%. Following that, fraud cases numbered around 460, with the remainder being simple assault and others.

Even if the police make a non-prosecution decision, the case is not immediately closed. Investigation-related documents are forwarded to the prosecution, where prosecutors review the records for 90 days and, if they determine that reinvestigation is necessary, they can request the police to reopen the case. So far, no such reinvestigation requests have been reported.

An official from the National Investigation Headquarters said, "Even if a non-prosecution decision is made, the parties involved in the case can file objections at any time," adding, "Since systems such as the examiner system and objection procedures have been introduced during the case handling process, we will strive to ensure that the public does not experience inconvenience."

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