Serious Crime Investigation Agency chief Kim Ji-hoon to pay courtesy call on acting Prosecutor General Lee Jung-hyun tomorrow in first official meeting

[Financial News] Kim Ji-hoon, head of the Serious Crime Investigation Agency, will pay a courtesy call on Lee Jung-hyun, acting Prosecutor General (a deputy chief prosecutor at the Public Prosecution Office), on the 30th. It will be the first official meeting between the heads of the two agencies since the Public Prosecution Office and Serious Crime Investigation Agency were launched.
According to the Serious Crime Investigation Agency on the 29th, its chief Kim is scheduled to visit the Public Prosecution Office in Seoul's Seocho District at 2 p.m. on the 30th and meet acting head Lee. The agency did not disclose the specific purpose of the visit or the agenda for discussion.
The two have previously been present at a State Council meeting chaired by President Lee Jae-myung, but this will be their first meeting as part of an official courtesy call since the two agencies were launched on the 2nd.
There is speculation that the meeting may address current issues arising from the overhaul of the criminal justice system, including the transfer of cases from the Public Prosecution Office to the Serious Crime Investigation Agency and the adjustment of authority between the two agencies.
In particular, given that the two agencies have recently differed over which one has the authority to receive leniency applications in corporate cartel cases, attention is also focused on whether the issue will be discussed.
The Serious Crime Investigation Agency maintains that allowing investigative agencies to receive leniency applications and assign provisional rankings at the investigation stage is consistent with the purpose of the system and overseas legislative precedents. The Public Prosecution Office, by contrast, believes that prosecutors should have the authority to receive applications, since sentence reductions are closely related to prosecutors' powers to indict and recommend sentences.
However, some observers expect the courtesy call to focus only on matters for the two agencies to coordinate at a broad level, rather than specific issues such as leniency.
 
[email protected] Choi Eun-sol Reporter