Public notice period for prosecution service organizational plan, prosecutor headcount decree ran through Wednesday
Ruling camp challenges prosecutor quota; interior minister says revisions under discussion
Legal experts warn the plan is moving in the wrong direction for fighting crime
The government has unveiled a draft organizational structure for the new prosecution service that will replace the Prosecutors' Office when it is abolished in October, along with a revised enforcement decree for the law on prosecutor headcount. But the plans are drawing pushback from the ruling camp, led by the Democratic Party of Korea. The ruling Democratic Party has taken issue with the prosecutor quota set for the new prosecution service, and Interior and Safety Minister Yun Ho-jung said the ministry is discussing revisions and could reissue the public notice on the legislation if necessary.
Legal experts warn that further revisions by the ruling camp could widen the gaps in the criminal justice system, especially with little time left before the new prosecution service launches. The new agency is already set to begin operating without a chief, and critics say the related regulations are now moving in a direction that undermines the fight against crime.
According to data obtained from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, the number of unresolved cases at district prosecutors' offices nationwide, including branch offices, has more than quintupled — from 32,424 in 2021 to 164,822 as of last month. It was in 2021 that the reform separating police and prosecutorial investigative powers took effect, limiting prosecutors to directly investigating only six categories of crime: corruption, economic crime, offenses by public officials, election law violations, defense industry crimes and major disasters, plus crimes committed by police officers, while leaving all other criminal cases to the police. Police also gained the authority to close cases on their own at the initial investigation stage. Since 2021, the number of unresolved cases pending at prosecutors' offices — excluding cases sent back as non-referrals or suspended investigations — has continued to climb. The number of unresolved cases at district prosecutors' offices nationwide rose to 51,825 in 2022, then 57,327 in 2023, 64,546 in 2024 and 96,256 last year.
When the Prosecutors' Office is abolished in October and the new prosecution service and the Serious Crimes Investigation Office — which will handle investigations into serious crimes — begin operating, cases now held at prosecutors' offices nationwide will be transferred to the police or the new investigation office. Under the revised Criminal Procedure Act, passed by the National Assembly at the end of July under the Democratic Party's leadership, prosecutors assigned to the new prosecution service will lose their investigative authority. Prosecutors' power to demand supplementary investigations has also been abolished. With more than 160,000 cases set to be handed over to other investigative agencies, questions remain over whether the new prosecution service will be able to exercise any meaningful oversight — such as requesting supplementary investigations — over those initial investigations.
Against this backdrop, the government released the "Prosecution Service and Affiliated Agencies Organizational Plan" and a revised enforcement decree for the prosecutor headcount law on Friday, with a public comment period running through Wednesday. The Democratic Party has been sharply critical of the drafts, arguing that provisions such as keeping the prosecutor quota at the current level of 2,292 run counter to the party's prosecutorial reform agenda. Democratic Party Supreme Council member Lee Sung-yoon said at the party's Supreme Council meeting Wednesday, "Prosecutors' duties used to cover both investigation and prosecution, but now that investigation has been removed, not a single prosecutor position has been cut, and the roughly 6,100 investigative personnel remain in place." He added, "Common sense dictates that if prosecutors are no longer conducting investigations, the organization, personnel and budget should change accordingly." Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok said at the same meeting, "We will look into whether the organization has been designed to be excessively large."
Criticism has also been directed at the planned Judicial Control Division within the new prosecution service, which will be responsible for reviewing police cases not referred for prosecution. Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Yong-min said at a press conference Tuesday, "The intent to keep the massive investigative workforce and prosecutor quota unchanged is obvious." He added, "Creating a Judicial Control Division that allows an entity that should be subject to oversight to instead oversee other agencies is a clear case of the pot calling the kettle black."
In response, Interior and Safety Minister Yun Ho-jung, addressing a related question during a National Assembly interpellation session the same day, said, "We first gave public notice of the organizational decree, and after hearing feedback, we are now discussing revisions." He added, "If necessary, we are also considering reissuing the public notice." The Ministry of Government Legislation, which reviews draft legislation, is also reported to have raised concerns about the recently released prosecution service organizational plan.
Legal experts, however, are wary of the ruling camp's arguments. Critics say it will already be difficult to fill the gaps left by the sweeping overhaul of the criminal justice system centered on abolishing the Prosecutors' Office, and legislative gaps are plentiful to begin with — on top of that, calls to weaken even the subordinate regulations keep mounting. With the abolition of prosecutors' power to demand supplementary investigations, the function of reviewing investigation records compiled by police and other agencies becomes even more critical, and attempts to cut the prosecutor quota would eliminate even the minimal safeguards that remain, critics say. If the police and other investigative agencies set to absorb more than 160,000 pending cases become overburdened, the quality of investigations could ultimately suffer — raising concerns that support and oversight functions could weaken rather than be reinforced.
From Oct. 2, when police decide not to refer a case for prosecution after finding no grounds for charges, the case file will be sent to the new prosecution service. The service's Judicial Control Division will review such non-referral case files and can request further investigation if it determines one is needed. If police fail to comply with a request for supplementary investigation or corrective action without a valid reason, the case will be reassigned so that compliance can be monitored.
A particular concern with the abolition of prosecutors' investigative authority is whether issues raised by courts during trial can be quickly addressed at the investigation stage. This has led to warnings that maintaining prosecution through the trial stage will become even more critical. Given that the number of trial prosecutors is already lower than the number of court divisions, critics say a further cut to the prosecutor quota would weaken trial performance and ultimately widen the holes in the criminal justice system. According to data from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, the number of trial prosecutors nationwide stood at 300 last year, while the number of court divisions was 581. The number of court divisions has been rising, but the prosecutor quota has remained unchanged at 2,292 since 2014.
A legal source said the plan to set up the Judicial Control Division to properly review non-referral cases would require assigning a considerable number of prosecutors to the division — contradicting arguments for cutting the prosecutor quota while strengthening demands for supplementary investigations. "What matters is not the name of the division but its function and role," the source said.
The source added, "There are already not enough trial prosecutors to properly review case records. Judges themselves are frustrated that prosecutors often cannot rebut arguments made by defense counsel," voicing concern over the proposed cut to the prosecutor quota.
bell@heraldcorp.com
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