Democratic Party's 'Cheoreomhwe' "Establishing the Serious Crime Investigation Agency to Eliminate 'Prosecution-Oriented Investigations'"

Hwang Unha, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, holds a press conference on the bill for the Serious Crime Investigation Agency at the National Assembly Communication Office on the 9th. Photo by Yoon Dongju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] The 'Active Members Group Cheoreomhwe,' composed of Democratic Party lawmakers including Hwang Unha, announced on the 9th that they have proposed a bill to establish a separate investigative agency called the 'Serious Crime Investigation Agency,' following last year's enactment of the Public Prosecutor's Office Establishment Act.

At a press conference held by Cheoreomhwe on the morning of the 9th, lawmakers Kim Nam-guk, Kim Seung-won, Kim Yong-min, Moon Jung-bok, Min Byung-duk, Min Hyung-bae, Yoon Young-duk, Lee Soo-jin, Jang Kyung-tae, Choi Kang-wook, Choi Hye-young, Hong Jung-min, Han Jun-ho, and Hwang Unha were present. The event was held to explain the bill that Lawmaker Hwang had already proposed the day before.

They stated, "The purpose is to completely separate the 'direct investigation authority,' which is the core of prosecutorial power abuse, from the prosecution and transfer it to the newly established 'Serious Crime Investigation Agency' to achieve checks and balances through the separation of investigation and prosecution and to build a just criminal justice system."

They explained that in other countries, prosecutors only serve as prosecutors responsible for indictment and prosecution in criminal trials. Cheoreomhwe said, "The image of prosecutors directly investigating suspects or witnesses is familiar and taken for granted in Korea, but 'direct investigation by prosecutors' is a unique system not found in advanced foreign countries, whether in common law or civil law systems," adding, "It infringes on the objectivity of prosecutors and violates the basic principle of evidence law that prosecutors cannot be witnesses in court."

They continued, "Recently, in relation to the former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook case, a person who claimed to have received 'witness training' from the prosecution investigation team at the time exposed allegations that the prosecution called witnesses to the trial and made them practice their testimony, which is an accusation of coaching false testimony," and said, "When the prosecution agency is responsible for investigation, it inevitably conducts 'investigations for prosecution,' which expands blind spots in human rights protection and regresses investigative procedures to pre-modern formalities."

They recognized that occurrences of 'fabricated investigations,' 'separate investigations,' 'targeted investigations,' 'sweeping investigations,' and 'excessive investigations' are not individual prosecutor problems but institutional issues arising from the combination of investigation and prosecution, and that these structural problems are difficult to resolve without complete separation of investigation and prosecution.

The Serious Crime Investigation Agency Establishment Act aims to completely abolish the prosecution's direct investigation function, allowing the prosecution to focus on indictment and prosecution maintenance. Furthermore, the direct investigations currently handled by the prosecution will be transferred to the Serious Crime Investigation Agency. The personnel composition of the investigative agency will consist of investigators who will perform the duties of judicial police officers under the Criminal Procedure Act.

With the establishment of the Serious Crime Investigation Agency, national investigative agencies will be diversified into the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (Gongsoocheo), the National Investigation Headquarters, and special investigative units. This is expected to achieve checks and balances and secure expertise for each investigative agency.

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