[Examining the Complete Police Reform ⑤] The Growing Police Force: Challenges in Oversight and Collaboration

Expected Constitutional Court Unconstitutionality Procedure for Han Dong-hoon
Ministry of the Interior and Safety Plans Control Measures
Task to Rebuild Cooperation System with Prosecution

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] ‘From Prosecutorial Reform to Police Reform’

The atmosphere surrounding the police has been changing since the launch of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration. Measures to nullify the enforcement of the ‘Complete Prosecution Investigation Privilege Abolition’ (Geom-su-wan-bak) law and mechanisms to check or control the growing size and authority of the police are being anticipated.

According to a comprehensive report by Asia Economy, if the appointment process of Han Dong-hoon as Minister of Justice proceeds as expected, checks on the expanded police authority resulting from the promulgation of the Geom-su-wan-bak law are expected to become stronger. Han is expected to begin preparations for a constitutional review of the Geom-su-wan-bak law immediately upon taking office. He is likely to form a related task force (TF) under the Ministry of Justice and challenge the constitutionality of the law. Depending on the Constitutional Court’s decision, the police, who are currently taking steps to respond to the expansion of investigative authority following the law’s promulgation, may face restrictions.

Earlier, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety also began preparing measures to control the police. On the 13th, it formed the Police System Improvement Advisory Committee, one of the subcommittees under the policy advisory committee led by Minister Lee, and held its first meeting. The advisory committee reportedly discussed control measures based on the recognition that police authority has increased due to the passage of the Geom-su-wan-bak law. The committee is expected to meet biweekly in the future and discuss various measures, including strengthening the authority of the National Police Commission and reducing national police authority through the autonomous police system.

Separately from these external checks, the police are reportedly adjusting next year’s personnel budget upward in line with the enforcement of the Geom-su-wan-bak law. This is a strategic move to increase investigative personnel needed due to the expanded investigative authority. According to the budget proposal prepared through the 2023 budget formulation review meeting held by the National Police Agency on the 12th, next year’s personnel expenses are set at 10.0148 trillion won. This is an increase of 655.2 billion won from this year’s 9.3596 trillion won. Although still at the budgeting stage, this is the first time police personnel expenses have exceeded 10 trillion won. The police explain that personnel reinforcement is essential to cope with the increased total volume of investigations following the adjustment of investigative authority between the prosecution and police and the passage of the Geom-su-wan-bak law.

At the frontline investigation sites, there have already been concerns about overload in investigative capacity since last year’s adjustment of investigative authority between the prosecution and police. For example, the time taken to process cases has increased. According to the National Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency, the average processing time per case was 55.6 days in 2020, but increased by 8.6 days to 64.2 days last year, the first year of the investigative authority adjustment. Oh Yoon-sung, a professor of Police Administration at Soonchunhyang University, diagnosed, "Since the adjustment of investigative authority, many veteran investigators have left, and the quality of police investigations has further declined."

The police plan to improve such investigative infrastructure by securing next year’s personnel budget. The budget request will be submitted to the Ministry of Economy and Finance by the 31st after review and approval by the Police Commission. The Ministry of Economy and Finance will submit it to the National Assembly by September 3rd after review, and it will be finalized at the end of the year following National Assembly deliberations.

While moves to expand investigative infrastructure amid external checks have begun in earnest, the police face numerous immediate challenges. Experts particularly emphasize the urgent need to rebuild a cooperative system with the prosecution. Since last year’s adjustment of investigative authority between the police and prosecution, invisible power struggles have continued. The conflict between the two agencies over the police’s direct warrant request authority is a typical example. The depth of the conflict has been more apparent on the ground. There have even been cases where prosecutors pointed out typos in police reports and ordered supplementary investigations. Jang Hyun-seok, a professor of Police Administration at Kyonggi University, said, "The intent and principle of this year’s amendments to the Prosecutors’ Office Act and the Criminal Procedure Act, along with last year’s investigative authority adjustment, is for the police and prosecution to cooperate in investigation and prosecution. It seems necessary for both agencies to change their organizational cultures to divide work, check each other, and maintain balance."

Establishing political independence and neutrality is also cited as a challenge the police face. Last year, the police were reorganized into a three-tier system consisting of the national police, investigative police, and autonomous police. This was to prevent the police organization from becoming bloated following the reduction of prosecutorial investigative authority. However, there were criticisms that merely transitioning to a three-tier system was insufficient to ensure independence and neutrality. The fact that the appointment authority for the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency, provincial police chiefs, and even the head of the National Investigation Headquarters lies with the executive branch also acts as an obstacle to securing police independence and neutrality. Kim Do-woo, a professor of Police Administration at Gyeongnam University, said, "There is inevitably a lot of political intervention in the police. It is necessary to introduce a system that can be controlled by the people, not by power."