President Lee Jae-myung on Saturday called for meticulous review of follow-up legislative work on prosecution reform, warning that "enormous criticism will pour in if omissions or overlaps cause conflicts."
"As we separate investigation and indictment functions, we are transferring all investigative authority from the Prosecutors' Office to the Serious and Specialized Investigation Office (SSIO), while some of that authority goes exclusively to the police or the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) — it's complicated," Lee said at a Cabinet meeting held at Cheong Wa Dae.
"The legislation separating investigation and indictment will require amending the Criminal Procedure Act and, if necessary, the Criminal Act as well, making things complex," he added. "There is a considerable possibility that omissions or conflicts will occur in the process."
"There is a high likelihood that legal provisions will conflict with or be missing from one another down the road," Lee stressed. "We really must review this with great care."
Lee also checked on field conditions, asking Acting Prosecutor General Ku Ja-hyun, "I saw in some media reports that each prosecutor handles more than 500 cases and that they are unable to process them. What is the actual situation?"
Ku replied, "The figures in the reports are not incorrect. We are reaching our limits these days, and if the staffing issue is not addressed, significant difficulties are expected." Lee responded, "Morale and motivation have dropped considerably due to the investigative authority adjustment, so that may well be the case. It truly is a period of turmoil."
Lee specifically raised concerns about the period after the Prosecutors' Office is abolished in October. "After that, we will create the SSIO and transfer all prosecution cases to it, but it won't happen overnight for the SSIO to have its systems, personnel and organization fully in place," he said. "Serious delays could occur in handling pending and transferred cases."
He added, "This is the first large-scale, sweeping reform since the founding of the Republic of Korea — of course it won't be easy."
"Going forward, complex and difficult cases such as drug crimes, international crimes and financial crimes will need to continue through joint investigation formats at least," Lee said. "Investigations are all moving to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the CIO, so preparations must be truly thorough."
When Interior Minister Yoon Ho-jung responded, "We will do our best to secure sufficient personnel for the SSIO," Lee pressed further. "I'm saying this because it doesn't seem like it will be easy," he said, again demanding careful review.
After Yoon added, "The Prosecutors' Office will need to send us a good number of people," Lee said, "Please also compile the progress and report to me separately."