Police Will Ask Complainants' Intentions First When Rejecting Complaints or Accusations

Improvement Measures for Processing Procedures to Be Implemented Next Month
Calls to Address Abuse of Complaints and Accusations

National Police Agency, National Investigation Headquarters.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] The police have decided to make it a principle to accept all incoming complaints and accusations, and when rejecting them, they will first confirm the complainant's intention and, if agreed, guide them through the re-submission procedure.

The National Police Agency announced on the 30th that it has prepared an "Improvement Plan for the Handling Procedures of Complaint and Accusation Submissions," which will be implemented starting from the 1st of next month.

Since 2006, the police have operated a "Complaint and Accusation Rejection System" based on the consent of the complainant or accuser to mitigate the abuse of complaints and accusations. However, there have been criticisms that it is unclear whether the complainant voluntarily agreed at the time of rejection, and there is no objective way to verify consent afterward.

Reflecting this, the police will proceed with the acceptance procedure for all submitted complaints and accusations. When rejecting an accepted complaint or accusation, they will receive a written consent form from the complainant and simultaneously provide the complainant with a copy of the consent form and a guide containing the objection procedure. Additionally, even if the complainant agreed to the rejection, if they later request the acceptance of the same case again, it will be accepted and processed immediately.

The issue of abuse of complaints and accusations remains. The police receive an average of 1.66 million cases annually, with a prosecution referral rate of about 57%. In contrast, the prosecution referral rate for 400,000 complaint and accusation cases per year is less than 30%. As of 2010, the number of accused persons per 100,000 population was 7.3 in Japan, whereas in Korea it was 1,068.7, approximately 146.4 times that of Japan.

A police official stated, "There are limits to resolving the abuse problem institutionally, so social discussions such as related legal amendments are necessary," and added, "If related laws are discussed in the National Assembly, we will actively express opinions and strive to build consensus."

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