Ministry of Justice Plans to Downsize Departments Handling Prosecutor-General's Office Investigations... Internal Opposition Expected to Grow

Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol Abolishes Investigation Information Policy Officer as 'Eyes' and 'Ears'
"Is Reform Simply About Weakening Power?"...Growing Internal Backlash in Prosecution

Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The Ministry of Justice's plan to reorganize the prosecution system in a way that weakens the prosecution's information-gathering capabilities and the supervisory functions of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office is showing signs of intensifying internal opposition within the prosecution.

Although this appears to be a measure to concretize the current administration's early policies of 'reducing direct investigations' and 'strengthening the criminal and trial divisions,' it is also interpreted as an effort to 'weaken the Prosecutor General's power' amid conflicts between the Minister of Justice and the Prosecutor General.

According to the legal community on the 12th, opposition voices have emerged within the prosecution regarding the '2020 Second Half Prosecutor's Office Reorganization Plan' sent by the Ministry of Justice to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office the day before.

A current chief prosecutor lamented, "I cannot understand whether this is truly reform when it unconditionally weakens the prosecution's power while ignoring the functions and roles the prosecution must perform."

A notable part of the reorganization plan is the abolition of the Investigation Information Policy Officer, who was directly under the Prosecutor General and responsible for collecting crime information, as well as the Senior Research Officer of the Anti-Corruption and Serious Crime Division, which commands special and public security investigations nationwide, and the Public Investigation Policy Officer of the Public Investigation Division.

The Investigation Information Policy Officer, the successor to the Crime Information Planning Officer, collects crime information and reports it to the Prosecutor General. This position is known as the Prosecutor General's 'eyes' and 'ears.'

A lawyer A, a former senior official of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, said, "Everything is an information battle," adding, "Just as the National Intelligence Service or the police collect information, it is crucial for the prosecution to gather various information to conduct preliminary investigations into powerful politicians or large corporate corruption."

The Senior Research Officer of the Anti-Corruption and Serious Crime Division also serves as a bridge between local offices and the Prosecutor General in investigating important special cases nationwide.

A current prosecution official B expressed concern, saying, "If a research officer at the chief prosecutor level takes on this role due to the reorganization, it will become awkward to convey the Prosecutor General's directives to senior prosecutors, who are superiors, in the prosecution's strong seniority culture, which will ultimately lead to weakening the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's 'command and supervision' functions."

Additionally, the reorganization plan includes reducing the five divisions under the Supreme Prosecutors' Anti-Corruption and Serious Crime Division, which oversee preliminary investigations, to three divisions, while expanding the two divisions under the Criminal Division to five divisions. The plan is expected to be finalized soon, possibly after the Cabinet meeting on the 18th, before the upcoming mid-level prosecution personnel reshuffle.

Meanwhile, within the prosecution, dissatisfaction is growing over Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae, who has recently clashed with Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, focusing the prosecution reform solely on reducing the prosecution's powers.

In a post on her Facebook page the day before, Minister Chu clearly stated the ultimate goal of eliminating the prosecution's investigative authority, saying, "If the police's investigative capabilities improve in the future, the time will come to relinquish the prosecutor's direct investigations."