Concerns Over Loss of Financial Investigative Capacity... Controversy Over "Privatization of Power" in Appointment Structure for Head of Serious Crimes Investigation Office

The prosecution office, which has combined investigation and indictment functions for 77 years, will be dismantled and completely separated into the "Public Prosecution Office" responsible for indictments and the "Serious Crimes Investigation Office" responsible for investigations. This prosecution reform plan was finalized at the high-level party-government council on September 7. The Serious Crimes Investigation Office will be established under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, while the Public Prosecution Office will be set up under the Ministry of Justice. However, the implementation has been postponed for one year, with the changes set to take effect in September next year. Nonetheless, there remain significant challenges to ensuring investigative independence and democratic oversight. There are immediate concerns that investigative capacity may dissipate due to the absence of prosecutors willing to transfer to the Serious Crimes Investigation Office. There are also concerns that the political independence of the head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Office could be significantly weakened.

Yonhap News Agency

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Whether the prosecution's existing investigative capabilities can be sufficiently transferred to the Serious Crimes Investigation Office is a highly contentious issue in this reform plan. Currently, there is considerable psychological resistance expected from incumbent prosecutors to give up their quasi-judicial status and transfer to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety as investigators. As a result, there are major concerns that the prosecution’s existing expertise and investigative capacity in areas such as economic, securities, and drug crimes may be lost. There are fears that investigative performance may decline again, as was the case when the Joint Financial and Securities Crime Investigation Unit was abolished in 2020.

According to data obtained by Asia Economy on September 8, the Joint Financial and Securities Crime Investigation Unit had an average of 5.2 people indicted and detained per month and 20.6 people indicted per month before its abolition (2018-2019). During the period when it was abolished (2020 to April 2022), the monthly averages dropped sharply to 1.6 and 6.2, respectively. After the unit was reinstated in May 2022, investigative performance improved significantly. Until December last year, the monthly average of people indicted and detained was 4.1, and the monthly average of people indicted was 18.8. During the same period, the number of people indicted and detained increased by 156.3%, and the number of people indicted rose by 203.2%.

The amount of assets preserved for forfeiture also reached 3.5734 trillion won. The unit preserved 233.3 billion won in the Terra-Luna case, 278.9 billion won in the Youngpoong Paper stock manipulation case, and 730.5 billion won in the SG Securities stock manipulation case. However, the legal community believes that if the Serious Crimes Investigation Office is transferred to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the absence of "investigative experts" such as prosecutors and investigators in the financial and securities fields will be repeated, just as it was when the unit was abolished. A division chief prosecutor at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said, "Working as an investigator at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, rather than as a prosecutor, is a fundamental change of identity," and added, "Far more prosecutors will choose to become lawyers than to become investigators."

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Controversy also remains over the composition of the candidate recommendation committee for the head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Office. There are concerns that the committee, as stipulated in Assemblyman Min Hyungbae's bill, could be filled with administration-friendly figures, reducing the head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Office to a mere guardian of those in power. According to the bill, the committee will be organized under the Minister of the Interior and Safety, who will also appoint its chair.

The committee consists of a total of seven members: the Vice Minister of the Interior and Safety, the head of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency, and four members recommended by the National Assembly negotiating groups. Among these, administrative officials and those from the president's party make up the majority. This structure allows the president and the ruling party to have significant influence over the selection of the head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Office. There is also a provision that, if the negotiating groups do not make recommendations within the deadline, the Speaker of the National Assembly can appoint the members, effectively rendering the opposition's recommendation rights meaningless. This stands in clear contrast to the candidate recommendation committee for the Prosecutor General, which includes external oversight such as the Chief Justice of the Court Administration, the President of the Korean Bar Association, and figures from academia and the media.

Even if the launch of the Serious Crimes Investigation Office is intended to "reduce prosecutorial power and strengthen democratic oversight," if controversy over subordination to the administration arises from the appointment stage, it will be difficult to gain public trust. Kim Jongmin, an attorney at MK Partners, said, "Under the current bill, the head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Office, appointed by the president, could use personnel authority as a tool to exert pressure on investigations." Another chief prosecutor pointed out, "If a police official with close ties to the administration becomes the head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Office, it will inevitably be criticized as a 'second police force' loyal to the government."

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