Prosecutors’ Supplementary Investigation Authority to Be Abolished; ‘Judicial Control Divisions’ to Be Established in Regional Public Prosecution Offices

[Financial News] Judicial Control Divisions dedicated to reviewing cases not referred by investigative agencies, including the Serious Crime Investigation Agency and the National Office of Investigation, will be newly established in regional Public Prosecution Offices nationwide. The measure is intended to address concerns about inadequate investigations and cases being buried after prosecutors lose the authority to conduct supplementary investigations.
According to legal officials on the 4th, the Ministry of Justice has prepared a draft enactment of the “Organization of the Public Prosecution Office and Its Affiliated Agencies” and amendments to the Enforcement Decree of the Prosecutors’ Quota Act. The proposals will be open for public comment through the 9th. They are follow-up measures to the abolition of the Prosecutors’ Office on October 2 and its division into the Public Prosecution Office and the Serious Crime Investigation Agency.

The central feature of the reform plan is the dismantling of investigative organizations. The Director of Criminal Intelligence Planning at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office of the Republic of Korea (SPO), along with two subordinate officials’ offices, will be abolished. These offices have analyzed, verified, and assessed information related to crimes for which prosecutors could initiate investigations. The Anti-Corruption Division and the Narcotics and Organized Crime Division, which have directed serious-crime investigations, will be merged into the Serious Crime Division. Rather than directly directing investigations, the Serious Crime Division will handle cooperation and support for investigative agencies, including the Serious Crime Investigation Agency.
The Forensic Investigation Division, headed by an official at the rank of chief prosecutor, will also be abolished because frontline forensic investigation functions will be transferred to the Serious Crime Investigation Agency. However, the Director of Forensic Science Planning, at the rank of deputy chief prosecutor, and three subordinate sections will remain to conduct cross-examinations needed to decide whether to indict and maintain prosecutions, as well as to operate evidence-preservation and analysis systems.
The reorganization will be broader at the frontline level. Forty-three crime-detection and joint-investigation divisions, which have primarily handled direct investigations, will be abolished and consolidated into 29 Serious Crime Divisions. All 67 Investigation and Inquiry Sections will also be eliminated. The positions of fourth deputy chief prosecutor at the Seoul Central Regional Public Prosecution Office and second deputy chief prosecutor at the Daegu and Busan Regional Public Prosecution Offices will be eliminated. Seoul Central will operate with three deputy chief prosecutors, while Daegu and Busan will each have one.
Five of the 29 Serious Crime Divisions will correspond to the five joint-investigation sections to be established within the Serious Crime Investigation Agency. Under Article 195(3) of the amended Criminal Procedure Act, they will be responsible for providing legal and evidentiary opinions at the stages of initiating investigations and applying for warrants. When a nationally or socially significant case occurs, the Serious Crime Divisions and other relevant units at each Public Prosecution Office will be designated as dedicated units for joint-investigation teams, allowing prosecutors and those teams to cooperate.

The establishment of Judicial Control Divisions is a supplementary measure responding to the abolition of prosecutors’ authority to conduct supplementary investigations. The Ministry of Justice explained that cases not referred by police are currently handled alongside referred cases by prosecutors’ offices without dedicated units. As the surge in pending cases has increased the workload, those offices have faced limits in devoting sufficient time and resources to reviewing case records.
Judicial Control Divisions will use the fact-finding procedure introduced under Article 245-13 of the amended Criminal Procedure Act to review cases not referred by police to the same standard as referred cases. The procedure allows officials to hear opinions from suspects, people involved in cases, experts, and judicial police officers when deciding whether to indict or request reinvestigation, or when necessary to maintain a prosecution. If an inadequate or unlawful investigation is confirmed, the division will request reinvestigation and seek accountability.
Cases in which judicial police officers fail, without legitimate reason, to comply with a prosecutor’s request for supplementary investigation or corrective action—and in which removal from duty or a disciplinary request is deemed necessary—will also be reassigned to a Judicial Control Division. The division will receive cases of non-prosecution for which an appellate prosecution office has ordered the case to be reopened and request supplementary investigations. It will also inspect compliance with obligations to record and register information in the Korea Information System of Criminal Justice Services (KICS).
In addition, the headquarters’ Criminal Division will create a Director of Criminal Affairs Planning position at the rank of deputy chief prosecutor. The position will oversee responses to ordinary criminal cases, which account for 94% of all cases. A Special Judicial Police Cooperation Division will also be established to provide prosecutors’ guidance, advice, and training to special judicial police. The quota of 122 acting prosecutors who have handled minor public-safety cases will be maintained in the Public Prosecution Office.
The Public Prosecution Office will consist of its headquarters, six metropolitan Public Prosecution Offices, 18 regional Public Prosecution Offices, and 42 branch offices. The headquarters will operate under the Prosecutor General of South Korea and a deputy chief prosecutor, with six divisions, six bureaus, offices and a spokesperson, and 30 sections and officials’ offices. Its authorized personnel will total 8,412, including 2,292 prosecutors and 6,120 general-service employees. The Ministry of Justice plans to give newly established or reorganized units, including Judicial Control Divisions and Serious Crime Divisions, an evaluation period of up to three years to assess their workload, performance, and results.
[email protected] Kim Dong-gyu Reporter