Yoon Chang-ryeol, Minister of Government Policy Coordination and head of the Prosecution Reform Task Force, addressed the ongoing debate over whether to retain supplementary investigation powers for prosecutors. "We will design the system with protecting citizens' human rights and ensuring substantive remedies as our top priorities, while staying true to the original intent of reform," he said.
Yoon made the remarks at a public hearing on "Strengthening Investigative Agency Capabilities" co-hosted by the Prosecution Reform Task Force under the Prime Minister's Office and the Korean Bar Association.
"The government is committed to completing the crucial task of prosecution reform from the public's perspective without wavering," he said.
Regarding whether prosecutors at the Public Prosecution Office—to be established after the abolition of the Prosecutors' Office in October—should retain supplementary investigation powers, Yoon called for extensive public deliberation.
"Rather than leaning toward either side's position, we need a process of social deliberation that devotes considerable time and effort to narrowing the gap between conflicting interests," he said. "The President himself has stated that 'sufficient deliberation and review from the public's perspective is needed to determine whether there are realistic situations requiring exceptions' regarding supplementary investigation powers."
On the organizational legislation for the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency and Public Prosecution Office submitted to the National Assembly on the 3rd, Yoon said, "We submitted this as a party-government consensus proposal, largely reflecting opinions gathered through the party's general assembly meetings. We expect it to be processed by the National Assembly soon."
Opinions remain sharply divided. Critics argue that granting supplementary investigation powers to prosecutors at the Public Prosecution Office—effectively the successor to the current prosecution—would undermine the principle of separating investigation and indictment functions while leaving room for arbitrary exercise of authority. Others contend that eliminating these powers entirely would make it difficult to oversee investigative agencies and weaken crime-fighting capabilities. Some ruling party lawmakers advocating hardline prosecution reform have objected that the government's bill falls short of expectations.
The government plans to continue public deliberation through approximately ten additional sessions following the hearing.
Discussions at the hearing focused primarily on staffing and organizational structure for the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency and Public Prosecution Office. Kim Jung-wook, President of the Korean Bar Association, emphasized the need to "appropriately deploy attorneys with legal expertise to the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency to enhance response capabilities for complex and sophisticated crimes, and to establish institutional incentives for capable attorneys to participate and serve long-term careers."
Some participants suggested approaching the question of retaining supplementary investigation powers from the perspective of "responsibility" rather than "authority." Ryu Kyung-eun, a professor at Korea University Law School, said, "I don't believe the goal of prosecution reform is to completely strip prosecutors of investigative powers. We need to carefully consider who should bear responsibility, and in what manner, for investigations conducted to determine whether to indict after cases are transferred."