Legislative efforts to expand the investigative scope of special judicial police are accelerating. The moves aim to strengthen the special judicial police system by increasing designated officials and broadening investigation targets. However, with the system undergoing its most significant transformation in 70 years—including the abolition of prosecutorial oversight following the disbandment of the prosecution service—experts say future legislation should focus on "stability."
According to the National Assembly's legislative information system on Monday, a total of 10 amendments to the Act on Persons Performing the Duties of Judicial Police Officers and the Scope of Their Duties have been proposed this year. The core content of these amendments centers on newly designating public officials as special judicial police.
The proposals include establishing cyber incident investigators as special judicial police to respond to cyber threats such as personal data breaches, hacking, ransomware attacks, smishing, and phishing, as well as granting special judicial police authority to officials at the Ministry of Science and ICT. Other proposals include establishing a Real Estate Supervision Agency with judicial police duties and designating Fair Trade Commission officials as special judicial police.
Additional measures to strengthen the special judicial police system include adding crimes related to illegal information distribution to the investigative scope of the Broadcasting and Media Communications Commission's special judicial police, and expanding the Intellectual Property Office's special judicial police investigation scope to cover industrial technology leakage and infringement crimes.
Special judicial police are administrative officials who handle enforcement and investigations in specialized fields such as food, health, and forestry—areas where regular police face difficulties. The system was introduced in 1956 when the Act on Persons Performing the Duties of Judicial Police Officers and the Scope of Their Duties was enacted. Currently, 14,165 special judicial police officers serve across 34 central government agencies including the Korea Customs Service, National Fire Agency, Ministry of Employment and Labor, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. An additional 5,994 special judicial police officers are affiliated with 17 local governments including Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, Busan Metropolitan City, and Incheon Metropolitan City.
While these legislative moves aim to strengthen the special judicial police by increasing designated officials and expanding investigation scope, experts say "the timing is premature." This is because major changes to the special judicial police system—including the abolition of prosecutorial oversight of investigations—are imminent. Given the significant concerns this raises, experts advise that "supplementary legislation" should take priority.
"Without prosecutorial oversight, the quality of special judicial police investigations and legal compliance will inevitably decline significantly," said Jang Young-soo, a professor at Korea University School of Law. "There are concerns not only about flawed investigations but also about agency heads and local government leaders manipulating special judicial police as they see fit."
A legal community source who requested anonymity said, "If we increase the number of officials designated as special judicial police and expand investigation scope, we could literally see a 'bumper crop of investigations' nationwide, but producing proper results may prove difficult." The source added, "Given that special judicial police have somewhat less expertise in investigation and law, there could be side effects such as unnecessary trials increasing or cases being buried. Legislative action is needed to prevent this."
