"I really have no motivation to work."
A prosecution investigator who recently met with the Seoul Economic Daily said, "Cold cases are piling up, and even the second-half promotions that happened every year are now uncertain." The remark was a candid admission that the will to work is evaporating as investigators face the prospect of choosing between the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency (SCIA) and the Public Prosecution Agency ahead of the abolition of the Prosecutors' Office, all while workloads keep growing.
With the Prosecutors' Office set to be dismantled in October, anxiety is spreading among prosecution investigators. Unresolved cases continue to pile up, and preparations for launching the SCIA and other successor bodies are progressing slowly. Some investigators have complained, "We are in a critical situation where we have to choose our future workplace, yet uncertainty only keeps growing."
According to legal circles on Wednesday, the bill to establish the SCIA passed the National Assembly plenary session on May 21. While this provided the legal basis for the SCIA's creation, the preparatory committee for the agency's launch has not yet been formed. The "big picture" — the legal framework — has been drawn, but the actual groundwork for opening has yet to begin.
A legal community source familiar with prosecution affairs explained, "Less than six months remain before the SCIA launches, yet specifics such as how many regional serious crimes investigation offices will open have not been decided." The source added, "Investigators working at local branch offices may have to relocate from their current residences if they transfer to the SCIA, but they are on edge because they have no information."
Under the SCIA Act, regional offices can be established under the SCIA Commissioner in special cities, integrated special cities, metropolitan cities, special autonomous cities, provinces, and special autonomous provinces to handle the agency's work on a regional basis. The locations, names, and jurisdictions of these offices are to be determined by presidential decree, but nothing specific has been set.
Another legal community source said, "We are already struggling to process the backlog of cold cases, and even the annual promotions are uncertain." The source continued, "There is great confusion over whether the SCIA and the Public Prosecution Agency can actually be established by October, and which of the two to join." The source added, "As things stand, neither option offers any incentive."