[Yoon Seok-yeol Elected] Prosecutorial Reform and Legal Sector... Prosecutors' Power Strengthened and Corruption Investigation Office's Authority Likely Reduced

President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol is expressing his thoughts on the 10th at the People Power Party's vote counting situation room set up at the National Assembly Library in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] With Yoon Seok-yeol, former Prosecutor General and the People Power Party's presidential candidate, winning the presidential election on the 10th, the prosecution reform aimed at reducing the power of the prosecution, which was pursued by the Moon Jae-in administration, is expected to lose momentum.

According to the revised Prosecutors' Office Act implemented this year, the scope of crimes subject to direct investigation by the prosecution has been drastically reduced, and the prosecution can no longer exercise investigative command authority over the police. The ruling party even prepared a policy called ‘Geomsu Wanbak’ (complete deprivation of prosecution’s investigative authority), which included abolishing the Prosecutors' Office entirely and establishing the Serious Crime Investigation Office (Jungsucheong) and the Public Prosecution Office, but with the change of administration, its realization has become virtually impossible.

Instead, policies strengthening the independence and authority of the prosecution, such as budget independence for the prosecution and abolition of the investigative command authority of the Minister of Justice, which were pledged by President-elect Yoon, are expected to be promoted.

On the other hand, the High-ranking Officials’ Crime Investigation Office (Gongsucheo), which has failed to indict a single high-ranking official even after one year since its launch and has only sparked controversy over political neutrality, may see its organization and authority reduced rather than expanded.

However, since the Democratic Party of Korea holds a majority of seats in the National Assembly, it will be difficult to amend laws such as the Prosecutors' Office Act, the Criminal Procedure Act, or the Gongsucheo Act, which include adjustments to investigative authority between the prosecution and police.

Therefore, it is highly likely that priority measures to expand the prosecution’s investigative authority will be taken through amendments to presidential decrees and Ministry of Justice ordinances, such as regulations on the scope of crimes for which prosecutors can initiate investigations, mutual cooperation between prosecutors and judicial police officers, general investigative guidelines, regulations on the organization of the Prosecutors' Office, and Gongsucheo notices or directives.

First, President-elect Yoon pledged to abolish the investigative command authority of the Minister of Justice over specific cases as stipulated in Article 8 of the Prosecutors' Office Act.

This provision designates the Minister of Justice as the highest supervisor of prosecutorial affairs, allowing the minister to direct and supervise prosecutors, but limits the supervision and direction of specific case investigations to the Prosecutor General only, considering the political neutrality of the prosecution. The provision was focused on restricting rather than guaranteeing the Minister of Justice’s command authority over specific cases from the time of its enactment.

For this reason, the Minister’s command authority, which has been exercised only once in 70 years since the enactment of the Prosecutors' Office Act in 1949, was invoked three times during the Moon Jae-in administration. In particular, former Minister Chu Mi-ae repeatedly abused the command authority as a means to strip the Prosecutor General of investigative command over specific cases, causing controversy. Minister Park Beom-gye also used the command authority to restore the honor of former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook, who was convicted of bribery by the Supreme Court. However, considering the current distribution of seats in the National Assembly, it is impossible to amend the law without persuading the Democratic Party.

President-elect Yoon also intends to transfer the budget formulation authority for the Prosecutors' Office, currently held by the Ministry of Justice, to the prosecution, institutionalizing a system where the Prosecutor General can directly request the Prosecutors' Office budget from the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Currently, other independent agencies such as the National Tax Service and the National Police Agency have independent personnel, organizational, and budgetary authority, but the Prosecutors' Office’s authority is held by the Ministry of Justice (Prosecution Bureau). Among the 17 government agencies, the Prosecutors' Office is the only one whose budget is formulated within the parent ministry.

Although there are interpretive differences, many hold the view that since the Prosecutor General is also the head of a central administrative agency under the Government Organization Act, the budget authority can be requested without legal amendments.

The scope of crimes for which prosecutors can initiate direct investigations, drastically reduced this year, is also expected to gradually expand. President-elect Yoon has pointed out the provision in the Gongsucheo Act that grants the Gongsucheo priority investigative authority over crimes committed by high-ranking officials as a ‘poisonous clause.’

If the Gongsucheo continues to fail to demonstrate its value as it has so far, the abolition theory, as foreshadowed by President-elect Yoon, may gain prominence.

Additionally, President-elect Yoon strongly opposed former Minister Chu’s plan to separate investigation and prosecution during his tenure as Prosecutor General. He believes that investigation is part of preparing for prosecution and trial, and that it aligns with the principle of trial-centered justice for the prosecutor who directly investigates and sees the evidence firsthand to handle prosecution and trial.

Therefore, the establishment of the Serious Crime Investigation Office or the Public Prosecution Office, which might have been pursued if Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party had been elected, is unlikely to be discussed further.

Meanwhile, the core of prosecution reform that most prosecutors agree on is personnel reform.

Following former Minister Chu, Minister Park also pushed prosecutors who had distinguished themselves in investigations, especially those from the special investigation division, into sidelined positions under the pretext of strengthening the criminal division, and appointed pro-government prosecutors to key positions in the prosecution and Ministry of Justice. Several prosecutors were demoted for handling investigations related to the administration. It is expected that these abnormal personnel practices will be normalized once President-elect Yoon appoints new Ministers of Justice and Prosecutor Generals.

There is also a possibility that prosecutors will be reappointed to senior positions in the Ministry of Justice, which had been filled with external personnel from organizations such as the Minbyun (Korean Lawyers for Public Interest and Human Rights) or the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, who lacked expertise under the pretext of ‘de-prosecution’ of the Ministry of Justice. Improvements are also expected in the Human Rights Protection Officer system, which has deviated from its original purpose by being assigned inspection functions and internal investigation functions over investigative teams as a means of controlling the prosecution.

Regarding the judiciary, President-elect Yoon announced pledges to expand family courts into therapeutic judicial institutions handling juvenile, child, and family cases together, and to establish a maritime specialized court. However, since Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo still has more than a year left in his term, it will not be easy to push for judicial reform immediately.

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