Prosecutors to Gain Budget Authority for the First Time in 70 Years... Quiet 'Anticipation' Internally

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] "It feels like losing your right arm."

A legal sector insider commented this way regarding the issue of granting the Prosecutor General the independent authority to draft the budget, which President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol has pledged and which is drawing attention for its feasibility. From the Ministry of Justice’s perspective, which has held the authority to decide the prosecution’s annual budget, handing over the budget drafting rights to the prosecution would be a blow greater than just losing a right arm.

According to political and legal circles on the 28th, the Ministry of Justice strongly opposed the transfer of budget drafting authority to the prosecution during the cancellation process of the Presidential Transition Committee’s scheduled briefing on the 25th. It is said that the level of refusal was even stronger than on other issues such as the abolition of the Minister of Justice’s investigative directive authority. The Ministry reportedly stated, "If the prosecution’s budget becomes independent, the Ministry of Justice will no longer be the control tower for the prosecution and will become a simple administrative department." The Ministry of Justice is said to have maintained this stance ahead of the rescheduled briefing on the afternoon of the 29th.

Under current laws and systems, budgetary authority and personnel authority are the real powers through which the Ministry of Justice controls the prosecution. They are like the right arm and left leg. While the Minister of Justice’s investigative directive authority, which applies only to specific cases, has a ‘one-off’ influence, budgetary and personnel authorities exert periodic and permanent influence. The Ministry of Justice’s refusal appears to stem from this.

If realized as per President-elect Yoon’s pledge, the prosecution will gain budget drafting authority for the first time in 70 years since the establishment of the Korean government. The prosecution has never decided its own budget independently. Among the 17 external agencies, the prosecution office is the only one whose budget is not individually drafted but integrated into the budget of the supervising ministry. This issue has been actively discussed in political and academic circles before but has never been realized.

For the prosecution, this is a golden opportunity. Since the President-elect has pledged it, the possibility of gaining budget drafting authority is higher than ever. It is even rumored that the decisive factor behind Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo, who is regarded as ‘pro-government,’ actively supporting President-elect Yoon’s pledge during the Transition Committee briefing on the 25th was the budget drafting authority.

There is reportedly considerable anticipation within the prosecution as well. According to the Prosecution Yearbook, the prosecution’s budget was approximately 911.6 billion KRW in 2016, about 973.9 billion KRW in 2017, about 1.03 trillion KRW in 2018, about 1.073 trillion KRW in 2019, and about 1.1293 trillion KRW in 2020. The budget for last year, which has not yet been tallied, is also presumed to have increased. All of these amounts represent about 28-29% of the Ministry of Justice’s budget. In 2020, it was 29.66%. The legal community expects that if the prosecution gains budget drafting authority, it will operate a budget at the current level or exceeding the 1 trillion KRW mark.

The funds can then be used in various ways. The prosecution usually spends its budget on personnel expenses, frontline office operating costs, and detailed project expenses. Prosecutors expect that beyond this, improvements in working conditions and increased support for investigative work expenses will expand. A prosecution official said, "Isn’t it natural for any institution to want to receive more budget?" and added, "If the budget increases, we need to consider how to use it transparently and appropriately."

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