The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials (Gongsoocheo) Decides Not to Exercise Transfer Request Right Following Investigation Deliberation Committee's Resolution... First Decision

Kim Jin-wook, Chief of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials./Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency (HCIA) has made its first decision to respect the resolution of the Investigation Deliberation Committee (hereafter IDC), composed of external members, and not to exercise the HCIA chief's right to request transfer of investigation to other investigative agencies.

Since the HCIA revised the IDC operation guidelines on September 30 to add "whether to request transfer under Article 24, Paragraph 1 of the HCIA Act" as a matter for IDC deliberation, this is the first time the IDC has reviewed whether to exercise the right to request transfer.

On the 1st, the HCIA Investigation Division 3 (Chief Prosecutor Kim Seon-gyu) announced that, respecting the resolution of the 4th IDC meeting held the previous day, it notified the relevant investigative agency of "non-initiation of investigation" on the same day.

The IDC discussed the exercise of the right to request transfer regarding a specific case the previous day and, considering the progress of the investigation, controversies over fairness, and the opinion of the chief prosecutor in charge, resolved that exercising the right to request transfer for the case under deliberation was inappropriate, the HCIA reported.

However, considering that the investigation of the "case under deliberation" is currently underway at another investigative agency, the HCIA did not disclose details of the case, including the suspect and the facts of suspicion.

Before the IDC meeting the previous day, HCIA Chief Kim Jin-wook expressed deep condolences over the Itaewon tragedy and requested the committee members' in-depth opinions on the future roles and tasks of the HCIA, which has now fully established its investigative team, including chief prosecutors appointed as of the 5th of last month, the HCIA stated.

At a meeting with the Presidential Transition Committee in March, the HCIA had announced plans to strengthen internal controls by having the IDC, composed of external members, review requests for transfer. Accordingly, at the end of September, the HCIA revised related guidelines to include the exercise of the HCIA chief's right to request transfer to other investigative agencies as a matter for IDC deliberation.

The HCIA stated, "Going forward, to investigate cases fairly where public suspicion arises or social attention is focused, and to practice democratic and procedural checks and controls by civil society, we plan to actively reflect the IDC's opinions in the actual investigation process by listening to the IDC's views and considering legal procedures and requirements when deciding whether to exercise the right to request transfer under Article 24, Paragraph 1 of the HCIA Act."

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