Establishment of Major Crime Narcotics Division and Revival of Securities Crime Task Force... Legislative Notice Today

Seoul Seocho-dong Supreme Prosecutors' Office building. Photo by Huh Younghan younghan@

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Violent Crime Division, which was integrated and absorbed into the Anti-Corruption Division during the Moon Jae-in administration, will be separated and reestablished under the name of the Narcotics and Organized Crime Division. The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office's Joint Investigation Unit for Securities Crimes, which was abolished during former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae's tenure, will be officially reinstated.

According to the official gazette on the 4th, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced the legislative notice of the 'Partial Amendment to the Regulations on the Organization of the Prosecutors' Office.'

The amendment includes separating the current Supreme Prosecutors' Office Anti-Corruption and Violent Crime Division into the Anti-Corruption Division and the Narcotics and Organized Crime Division, establishing each as new entities along with their subordinate organizations.

The Anti-Corruption Division, Narcotics and Organized Crime Division, and Public Investigation Division will each have newly established planning officers, and the Information Management Officer will be reorganized into a Crime Information Planning Officer to enable the restructuring of subordinate organizations.

Additionally, the amendment includes establishing a Financial and Securities Crime Joint Investigation Unit and a Financial and Securities Crime Investigation Division at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, along with increasing the staff by one to create the position of head of the Financial and Securities Crime Investigation Division.

The reason for this organizational restructuring, as stated in the official gazette, is to improve and supplement certain shortcomings observed in the current system's operation, enabling the prosecution to respond efficiently and systematically to major crimes such as narcotics, organized crime, and financial and securities crimes, and to strengthen the functions of crime information verification and analysis.

Earlier, on the 12th of last month, Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon ordered the Supreme Prosecutors' Office to establish related departments, stating, "We must restore the nation's overall capacity to respond to narcotics and organized crime."

During the Moon Jae-in administration, following the adjustment of investigative authority, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Violent Crime Division was merged with the Anti-Corruption Division to become the Anti-Corruption and Violent Crime Division, and the Narcotics Division and Organized Crime Division were integrated into the Narcotics and Organized Crime Division.

With this amendment, the Financial and Securities Crime Joint Investigation Unit, currently operating as a non-permanent temporary organization, will be reorganized into a formal permanent entity. This effectively revives the Joint Investigation Unit for Securities Crimes that was abolished during former Minister Choo's tenure.

Once the Joint Investigation Unit is officially operated, restrictions on new temporary prosecutor appointments and budget allocations during its temporary status are expected to be lifted.

In line with this, the Ministry of Justice also announced a legislative notice for the amendment of the Enforcement Decree of the Prosecutor Staffing Act, which reallocates seven prosecutors from the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office and one prosecutor each from the Daejeon High Prosecutors' Office and Suwon High Prosecutors' Office to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and reallocates one prosecutor from the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office to the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Justice will accept opinions on the amendment until the 9th via online or written submissions.

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