National Police Agency Investigation Bureau, 21 New Lead Investigators Selected as 'Core of Investigative Police'

An Additional 3,160 Former Investigators Included

Seodaemun-gu, Seoul Police Agency, National Investigation Headquarters

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters (NIH) announced on the 13th that it has newly selected 21 chief investigators who will lead police investigations with increased authority and responsibility due to the adjustment of investigative rights between the prosecution and the police.

According to the NIH, the newly selected chief investigators include 10 in the investigation field (responsible for economic and anti-corruption public crimes), 10 in the criminal field (responsible for violent crimes, drugs, women, and youth), and 1 in the cyber field. By rank, there are 9 Police Superintendents (equivalent to police station section chiefs), 8 Police Inspectors (equivalent to precinct chiefs or police station team leaders), and 4 Police Lieutenants (equivalent to substation chiefs or police station section chiefs). They are expected to be assigned to key positions such as section or team chiefs of their desired investigation departments or investigation examiners at their respective city or provincial police agencies.

Chief investigators are selected from full-time investigators with more than 10 years of investigative experience working in investigation departments. The police first selected 91 chief investigators in 2020, and added 66 more in July last year. Including this year's selections, the total number is 178.

The NIH also conducted evaluations for general investigators with more than 7 years of investigative experience and additionally selected 3,160 full-time investigators. In December last year, 3,325 were also selected. As a result, the total number of full-time investigators has increased to 6,485.

In line with the adjustment of investigative rights, the police introduced an investigator qualification management system in 2020, focusing on securing specialized investigative personnel such as chief investigators and full-time investigators. When a general police officer passes the criminal law competency test and obtains investigative qualifications, they become a preliminary investigator, and upon assignment to an investigation department, they become a general investigator. After fulfilling certain work and training requirements, general investigators can apply for selection as full-time or chief investigators.

An NIH official stated, "The public's demand for police investigative expertise is higher than ever," and added, "We will operate the 'investigator qualification management system' solidly, including the selection of chief and full-time investigators with professional capabilities."

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