🚨 Prosecutorial Reform

Today Korean Social News for Beginners | 2025.09.18

0️⃣ Separation of Investigation Powers and Legal System Restructuring

📌 Prosecutorial Reform Impact: Retired Police Officers' Value Surges in Law Firms and Companies

💬 Over the past year, many retired police officers have joined large companies, financial institutions, and law firms as high-ranking executives, significantly increasing their market value. Meanwhile, former prosecutors have lost their previous influence and are being overlooked by law firms. Analysts say the legal industry's power structure is being reorganized as a result of prosecutorial reform, which includes abolishing the Prosecutor's Office and transferring investigation authority to police. This system overhaul aims to separate prosecution and investigation powers to reduce power concentration and increase transparency, and its effects are now reaching the job market. However, concerns about conflicts of interest and the need for proper management and supervision are being raised as retired police officers increasingly enter the private sector.

💡 Summary

• Prosecutorial reform is a system overhaul that separates investigation and prosecution powers to reduce power concentration.
• Investigation authority is being transferred to police through the abolition of the Prosecutor's Office and establishment of the Major Crime Investigation Office and Public Prosecutor's Office.
• The legal industry's power structure is being reorganized as retired police officers increasingly join law firms and companies.

1️⃣ Definition

Prosecutorial Reform means a system overhaul that separates investigation and prosecution powers to reduce power concentration, prevent abuse of power, and increase accountability and transparency. The key is to strengthen the principle of checks and balances by dividing the investigation and prosecution powers that prosecutors previously monopolized.

The main content of the currently promoted prosecutorial reform is to abolish the Prosecutor's Office and newly establish the Major Crime Investigation Office and the Public Prosecutor's Office. The system is designed to distribute power by giving investigation authority to police and prosecution authority to the Public Prosecutor's Office.

💡 Why is this important?

• It can prevent abuse of power caused by excessive concentration of prosecutorial authority.
• It increases fairness and transparency through checks and balances between investigation agencies.
• It has the effect of strengthening human rights protection and democratic control of citizens.
• It brings major changes to the power structure and job market of the entire legal industry.

2️⃣ Main Content and Changes of Prosecutorial Reform

📕 Problems with the Existing Prosecutorial System

• Excessive concentration of prosecutorial power has been criticized. The main problems are as follows:

  • Prosecutors handled both investigation and prosecution, essentially performing judicial roles as well.
  • They exercised absolute authority as a higher agency than police through direct investigation powers.
  • They monopolized the right to dismiss cases, holding the power of life and death over cases.
  • Questions about independence in political cases or investigations related to high-ranking officials have been consistently raised.

• Power abuse and preferential treatment for former officials were serious problems. The main realities are as follows:

  • Retired prosecutors moved to large law firms and used their past connections for preferential treatment.
  • They often used their relationships with current prosecutors to unfairly influence cases.
  • Due to internal hierarchy and organizational culture within the prosecution, self-correction ability was lacking.
  • Citizens' trust continued to decline, and doubts about judicial justice grew.

📕 Building a New Investigation and Prosecution System

• Establishment of the Major Crime Investigation Office is being promoted. The main roles are as follows:

  • It will exclusively investigate major cases such as economic crimes, corruption crimes, and election crimes.
  • It will operate independently by taking over the direct investigation functions of the existing prosecution.
  • It will have a power distribution effect as a separate agency from the prosecution.
  • It will focus investigation capabilities on major crimes based on expertise and independence.

• Prosecution powers will be separated through the establishment of the Public Prosecutor's Office. The main features are as follows:

  • It will operate as a separate agency dedicated only to prosecution and maintaining public prosecution.
  • It will decide whether to prosecute from an independent position from investigation agencies (police, Major Crime Investigation Office).
  • Its main duties will be maintaining public prosecution in court and participating in trials.
  • It will build a system of checks and balances through the separation of investigation and prosecution.

💡 Major Issues in Prosecutorial Reform

1. Power Distribution: Building a check system through separation of investigation and prosecution powers
2. Ensuring Independence: Securing political neutrality and expertise
3. Efficiency Issues: Concerns about work efficiency and speed due to agency separation
4. Preventing Preferential Treatment: Need for employment restrictions and conflict of interest prevention measures for retirees
5. Social Costs: Budget burden from establishing and operating new agencies

3️⃣ Changes in Legal Industry Power Structure and Impact

✅ Surge in Retired Police Officers' Market Value

• Retired police officers' entry into law firms has greatly increased. The main changes are as follows:

  • Police primary investigation rights and investigation conclusion rights were strengthened after the 2021 investigation authority adjustment.
  • Large law firms are actively recruiting retired police officers with investigation expertise.
  • Police-origin professionals have entered the criminal defense field that was previously monopolized by prosecutor-origin professionals.
  • They are receiving much better salary and treatment conditions than in the past.

• They are also popular in corporate compliance fields. The main status is as follows:

  • More cases of taking on internal auditing and legal compliance monitoring duties at large companies and financial institutions.
  • They perform corporate crisis management roles based on police investigation know-how and field experience.
  • They also serve as channels for responding to government regulations and communicating with investigation agencies.
  • Police-origin professionals are entering high-ranking positions previously mainly held by prosecutor-origin professionals.

✅ Weakening Status of Prosecutor-Origin Professionals

• Law firms' preference for prosecutor-origin professionals has greatly declined. The main causes are as follows:

  • The prosecution's actual influence has been limited due to the reduction of direct investigation powers.
  • As investigation conclusion rights were transferred to police, the prosecution's room for investigation intervention decreased.
  • Law firms tend to prefer police-origin professionals who actually handle investigations.
  • They feel burdened about recruiting prosecutor-origin professionals due to social criticism of preferential treatment.

• Competitiveness in corporate entry has also weakened. The main changes are as follows:

  • It has become difficult to exercise influence based on absolute authority as in the past.
  • Companies also value networks with police, who have actual investigation authority, more.
  • In compliance work, police field experience is evaluated as more practical.
  • Due to changes in social perception, expectations for prosecutor-origin professionals have also decreased.

4️⃣ Related Terms Explanation

🔎 Investigation Authority Adjustment

• Investigation authority adjustment is a system reform that redistributes investigation powers between prosecution and police.
  • Investigation authority adjustment refers to the redistribution of investigation powers between prosecution and police realized through amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act and Prosecutor's Office Act in 2021. It aims for power distribution and check effects by sharing the investigation powers previously monopolized by prosecution with police.
  • The main changes include: First, police were given primary investigation rights to handle initial investigations for all crimes. Second, police gained investigation conclusion rights to finish investigations without prosecution approval. Third, prosecution's authority to direct police investigations was abolished, converting to an equal relationship. Fourth, the scope of prosecution's direct investigation was greatly reduced.
  • These changes greatly increased police investigation capabilities and responsibilities, also leading to increased market value for retired police officers. Meanwhile, prosecution is focusing more on prosecution and maintaining public prosecution, causing changes in organizational roles and status.

🔎 Preferential Treatment for Former Officials

• Preferential treatment for former officials is a practice where retired public officials receive special benefits using their past positions.
  • Preferential treatment for former officials refers to the practice where people who retired from public positions like judges, prosecutors, and high-ranking civil servants and moved to the private sector use their past positions and connections to exercise unfair special treatment or influence. 'Former official' means previous official, and preferential treatment for them is pointed out as a problem that harms social fairness.
  • The main problems of preferential treatment for former officials include: First, unfair pressure or solicitation can be applied to current officials through retirees' past connections. Second, it is abused as a lobbying tool to obtain favorable results for specific cases or clients in investigations or trials that should be fair. Third, current officials who are about to retire have incentives to provide special treatment to specific companies or individuals considering future employment.
  • As police-origin professionals' private sector entry increases due to prosecutorial reform, concerns about new forms of preferential treatment are also being raised. To prevent this, it is necessary to extend employment restriction periods for retirees, strengthen conflict of interest prevention devices, and build transparent reporting systems.

🔎 Compliance

• Compliance means companies follow laws and regulations and operate ethically.
  • Compliance means companies operate by thoroughly following related laws, regulations, policies, and ethical standards. It is recognized as a core element for fulfilling social responsibility and sustainable management beyond simply following laws.
  • The main areas of compliance include: First, financial regulation compliance including anti-money laundering, fair trade, and financial consumer protection. Second, improving corporate governance and building transparent decision-making processes. Third, personal information protection and data security management. Fourth, implementing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) management. Fifth, anti-corruption and integrity management and operating internal reporting systems.
  • As companies recently strengthen compliance-dedicated organizations, demand for legal industry experts has greatly increased. Particularly, retired police officers with rich investigation experience are receiving high evaluations in corporate crisis management and regulatory response work, attracting attention as a new field of advancement.

5️⃣ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: Will prosecutors completely disappear when prosecutorial reform is completed?

A: The Prosecutor's Office will be abolished, but the prosecutor profession and functions will continue in the Public Prosecutor's Office.

• The goal of prosecutorial reform is not to completely eliminate prosecutors but to distribute their authority. While the Prosecutor's Office as an organization will be abolished, prosecutors' main duties of prosecution and maintaining public prosecution will continue to be performed in the newly established Public Prosecutor's Office. First, in the Public Prosecutor's Office, existing prosecutors will be responsible for deciding whether to prosecute and maintaining public prosecution in court. Second, some prosecutors will be assigned to the Major Crime Investigation Office to handle direct investigations of major cases. Third, prosecutors who handle legal policy and administrative work under the Ministry of Justice will still be needed.
• However, the powerful authority of handling both investigation and prosecution as before will be greatly reduced. This is intended to prevent power concentration and realize judicial justice through checks and balances. The prosecutor profession itself will not disappear, but roles and authority will be readjusted.

Q: Won't investigation quality decline if investigation authority is transferred to police?

A: They are trying to resolve concerns through strengthening police investigation capabilities and improving expertise.

• Although there were concerns about police lack of investigation experience and expertise in the early stages of investigation authority adjustment, improvements are being made through continuous capability strengthening efforts. First, the Police University and Police Investigation Training Institute are greatly expanding investigation-specialized education to improve investigators' expertise. Second, they are conducting systematic education on legal knowledge and investigation techniques in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice. Third, investigation experts who previously worked in prosecution are moving to police and transferring know-how. Fourth, they are supplementing investigation capabilities for complex cases through cooperation with the Major Crime Investigation Office.
• Also, police responsibility has greatly increased after investigation authority adjustment. Since they can no longer depend on prosecution as before, they are more actively developing their own investigation capabilities. While time is needed for complete settlement, they are expected to develop into specialized investigation agencies in the long term.

Q: Isn't the increase in retired police officers joining law firms creating new preferential treatment for former officials?

A: It is necessary to prepare conflict of interest prevention devices and build transparent management systems.

• It is true that concerns about new forms of preferential treatment for former officials are being raised due to increased private sector entry by retired police officers. Systematic devices to prevent this must be urgently prepared. First, employment restriction regulations should be strengthened to prevent handling cases related to previous work agencies for a certain period after retirement. Second, a system is needed to transparently disclose retirees' private employment status and regularly monitor it. Third, internal control systems should be built to prevent current police officers from providing special treatment to specific companies or individuals considering post-retirement employment.
• At the same time, ways to positively utilize retirees' expertise and experience for society should also be explored. Rather than complete employment prohibition, it is desirable to allow entry in directions that help the entire society under transparent and fair rules. For this, the watchdog role of civil society and media oversight are also important.

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