Prosecution Strengthens Support and Cooperation with Special Judicial Police... Enhances Specialized Investigation Capabilities

Seoul Seocho-dong Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

[Asia Economy Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist Reporter] The prosecution is implementing various support and cooperation enhancement measures to improve the investigative capabilities of the Special Judicial Police (Teuksajeong).

On the 9th, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office announced that it is implementing systematic human and material investigative infrastructure cooperation and support measures, such as a 1:1 mentoring system, to enhance the professional investigative capabilities of the Teuksajeong.

The Teuksajeong system is a system where administrative officials in specialized fields closely related to citizens' lives, such as violations of special laws, are granted investigative authority to conduct investigations in a highly advanced and diversified society.

Currently, Teuksajeong operate in various fields including patents, finance, customs, environment, fire safety, health, construction, transportation, military service, and labor.

As of the end of last year, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office reported that the total number of Teuksajeong personnel affiliated with central administrative agencies such as the Korea Customs Service, Ministry of Employment and Labor, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Korean Intellectual Property Office, National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service, and the Railway Special Judicial Police Unit, as well as local government units like the Seoul Metropolitan Government Civil Life Judicial Police and Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police, reached 22,031.

The number of Teuksajeong personnel, which was 17,117 in 2015, increased annually to 19,095 in 2016, 20,771 in 2018, and 20,523 in 2019, before slightly decreasing last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Teuksajeong investigate approximately 120,000 cases annually and refer them to the prosecution, with about 43% of these cases resulting in indictments.

Meanwhile, Article 245-10, Paragraph 2, newly established during the amendment of the Criminal Procedure Act in February 2020, stipulates that "Special Judicial Police Officers shall be under the direction of prosecutors in all investigations."

The prosecution has recognized that while it is essential to utilize the specialized knowledge of Teuksajeong in investigations due to the increasing sophistication and complexity of crimes in specialized fields, frequent personnel transfers, manpower shortages, insufficient material infrastructure such as investigative equipment and facilities, and a lack of understanding of investigative practices and legal principles pose challenges. Therefore, it has prepared and is operating such support measures.

First, since March 2016, the prosecution has established a one-stop communication system with Teuksajeong through 1:1 investigative support by mentor prosecutors, strengthening cooperation in investigative tasks via the "Prosecution-Teuksajeong 1:1 Mentoring System," which is being implemented nationwide at prosecution offices.

It also supports various training programs through the Judicial Research and Training Institute and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Forensic Science Department. Since June 2018, over 21,000 people have received online or offline training at the Judicial Research and Training Institute, and 116 digital forensic experts have been trained through education provided by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Forensic Science Department, according to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

The prosecution has provided 366 forensic tools (CFT) to 30 institutions through a related agency council involving 42 Teuksajeong organizations and is also focusing on supporting digital forensic infrastructure by promoting an e-government project for sharing the Digital Evidence Management and Analysis System (D-NET).

A representative from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office stated, "Going forward, the prosecution will continue to strengthen support and cooperation in the specialized investigative fields of Teuksajeong to protect the safety of the public from crime."

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