Prosecutor General Abolishes 'Eyes and Ears' Investigation Information Officer... Internal Concerns Within the Prosecution

Prosecution: "Investigation Information Collection and Verification Dualized... Possibility of Close Information Leakage"

Seoul Seocho-dong Supreme Prosecutors' Office

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] The 'Investigation Information Officer of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office,' who served as the eyes and ears of the Prosecutor General, is set to disappear. The Investigation Information Officer at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office was a key position that directly reported confidential information to the Prosecutor General in addition to investigations.

On the 2nd, the Ministry of Justice announced that the amendment ordinance to the 'Regulations on the Organization of the Prosecutors' Office' related to the Investigation Information Officer at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office was deliberated and approved at the Cabinet meeting and is scheduled to be promulgated and enforced on the 8th.

The Ministry of Justice explained that as concerns regarding the fairness of the Investigation Information Officer's office at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office continued to be raised, they pursued a redesign of the organization and functions to gain public understanding and persuasion.

This organizational reform aims to appropriately maintain the prosecution's investigative information capabilities regarding six major crimes (corruption, economy, public officials, elections, defense projects, and large-scale disasters) to continuously respond to core corruption crimes, while abolishing the Investigation Information Officer at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and redesigning it to prevent the arbitrary collection and use of investigative information, according to the Ministry of Justice's plan.

The Ministry of Justice abolished the Investigation Information Officer position and bifurcated the functions of collecting and verifying investigative information. Through the separation of investigative information generation, verification, and processing (investigation command) tasks, the system was redesigned to secure 'checks and balances' in information operations.

To this end, a new Information Management Officer was established at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office to be responsible for collecting, managing, and analyzing investigative information generated by the office. The scope of information collection by the prosecution was reduced to only investigative information related to crimes that prosecutors deem difficult to initiate investigations on.

Within the prosecution, concerns are being raised over the abolition of the Investigation Information Officer at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. If the investigative information line that directly reported investigation-related information to the Prosecutor General is bifurcated into information collection and verification, there is a risk that sensitive investigative information requiring confidentiality could be leaked.

Deputy Chief Prosecutor A said, "It seems impossible to separate verification and analysis externally, and naturally, external collaborative personnel would be difficult, so I wonder how this will be operated."

Following the prosecution reform policy of the Moon Jae-in administration, the Investigation Information Policy Office, which was staffed by deputy chief prosecutors, was abolished in September 2020, and the subordinate Investigation Information Officer positions, which had two chief prosecutors, were reduced to one, leaving the current Investigation Officer's office as it is.

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