The Corruption Investigation Office Begins Building 'Investigation Network' Two Months After Auction Failure

No Bids or Single Bids Lead to Private Contracts... "No Issues Expected for Operation Early Next Year"

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency (HCIA) is set to officially commence the construction of the Criminal Justice Information System (KICS·Kix). As an integrated work computer network used by investigative agencies, the HCIA faced difficulties over the past two months due to the inability to find a contractor for the Kix construction project.

According to the legal community on the 29th, the HCIA has completed the selection process for the Kix construction contractor and plans to proceed with the main contract early next month. Although the most recent and final bid ended with a single applicant and was canceled, the agency judged that further bidding would be meaningless and decided to switch to a private contract to accelerate the network construction.

Kix is a computer network currently used by the prosecution and others, serving as a comprehensive system that allows sharing of information related to criminal cases between institutions and providing it to involved parties. It includes systems for case management, investigation, prosecution, and maintenance of public prosecution, as well as electronic document creation and approval related to investigations.

However, even after its launch in January, the HCIA had to register cases and carry out tasks such as fact-finding and criminal record checks manually due to the absence of Kix. It is also known that there was no data repository to manage related records.

In response, the HCIA stated, "Immediate investigation of crimes involving high-ranking officials is necessary, but the lack of supporting computer environments and systems requires urgent system construction," and initiated an emergency bidding process. HCIA Chief Kim Jin-wook personally stated, "We will ensure early establishment," reflecting the urgency of the Kix construction.

Although the start was somewhat delayed, the HCIA believes there will be no issues with operation by early next year. While final adjustments such as project costs remain before the private contract, considering that the private contract negotiation deadline is July 5, the main contract is expected to proceed by the second week of July at the latest.

However, until Kix is operational early next year, the agency is expected to bear a considerable workload. The HCIA has consecutively initiated investigations starting with the "allegations of unfair special hiring of dismissed teachers by Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon," followed by allegations of leakage of false interview reports by Prosecutor Lee Gyu-won regarding Yoon Joong-cheon, the case of leaked indictments involving Seoul High Prosecutor Lee Sung-yoon, and the investigation into external pressure on the travel ban of former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui, which may overload administrative capacity.

A variable is the return of six prosecutors who completed one month of practical training at the Judicial Research and Training Institute. Their redeployment is expected to accelerate case processing. Additionally, the agency has announced plans to recruit 10 more personnel, including two chief prosecutors and eight regular prosecutors. Regarding investigations and prosecutions of crimes involving high-ranking officials, the HCIA failed to fill the full quota of 25 personnel, including the chief and deputy chief, in the first recruitment round.

A legal community official expressed concern, saying, "Since the HCIA has ongoing cases despite the lack of an investigation system and insufficient investigative personnel, it must promptly verify and organize the allegations. If case processing is delayed, there is a risk that the HCIA could be misunderstood as politically intervening at a critical time such as the presidential election."

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