South Korea's prosecution and the Ministry of Justice are bringing the "public interest representative" role of prosecutors to the forefront. They have launched a sweeping publicity campaign, successively unveiling achievements ranging from the repatriation of fugitive criminals and recovery of crime proceeds to responses in investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) cases, as well as cases involving the protection of socially vulnerable groups and remedies for victims of past state violence. Analysts view this as an effort to redefine the identity of the prosecution organization ahead of discussions on amending the Criminal Procedure Act, which are expected to begin in earnest after the June 3 local elections.
According to legal sources on Tuesday, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office recently emphasized the prosecution's public interest representative role by disclosing cases of protecting the socially vulnerable, remedying citizens' rights, and shifting its approach to past-history cases.
On the 27th of last month, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office announced "measures to improve the approach to retrials of past human rights violation cases," stating that it would actively consider not only legal stability but also the realization of substantive justice in retrial cases. The aim is to break away from the previous practice of responding passively when retrial petitioners failed to prove illegal detention or harsh treatment, and instead have prosecutors directly collect evidence and verify the grounds for retrial.
This trend was also confirmed in a case on the 28th in which the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office cleared Kim Byung-jin, a victim in the past "Korean-Japanese student spy ring case" who had previously been subject to a suspended indictment. After reviewing the submitted petition and case records, prosecutors confirmed circumstances indicating that the Defense Security Command, which at the time had no authority to investigate civilians, had led the investigation and illegally detained Kim. They also took into account that a co-defendant who was indicted alongside him had been confirmed innocent through a retrial in 2017.
This marks the first time the prosecution has reopened a past suspended-indictment case on its own initiative and issued a no-suspicion disposition. Unlike defendants with finalized guilty verdicts, those subject to suspended indictments have no procedure for filing retrial petitions, leaving them effectively without separate means of remedy — a systemic blind spot that has now been addressed.
Cases of protecting the socially vulnerable and remedying citizens' rights have also been actively publicized. Earlier this year, prosecutors obtained the cancellation of a declaration of death for "A," a virtual asset investment fraudster who had been declared dead due to disappearance. They then seized and disposed of virtual assets purchased with the stolen funds and returned them to victims, contributing to meaningful recovery of damages. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office has been operating a dedicated public interest representative team since March 2024, systematizing related work.
The Ministry of Justice has followed suit, on the 25th highlighting the prosecution's achievements in repatriating overseas criminals, recovering crime proceeds, and responding to ISDS cases. The number of overseas criminals repatriated by the prosecution rose nearly fourfold, from 70 in 2022 to 274 last year. This year, 97 individuals have already been repatriated to Korea, including a Cambodia-based "couple scam ring" running romance scams and "Philippine drug lord" Park Wang-yeol. The scale of crime proceeds recovered also increased from 99.3 billion won in 2022 to 152.6 billion won in 2024.
Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho also emphasized the prosecution's changed image by visiting the May 18th National Cemetery in Gwangju on the 15th, accompanied by senior prosecution officials including acting Prosecutor General Koo Ja-hyun and Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office chief Park Cheol-woo.
Legal circles interpret these moves by the prosecution and the Ministry of Justice as a response to the upcoming Criminal Procedure Act amendment phase scheduled after the June 3 local elections. The view is that they are laying the groundwork to effectively argue for the necessity of supplementary investigative authority by emphasizing the public interest representative function and the duty of objectivity.
"There is a consensus that for the prosecution to restore public trust, it must move in the direction of strengthening the duty of objectivity and public interest representation," a prosecution official said. "Recently, the atmosphere both inside and outside the organization has grown stronger that retaining supplementary investigative authority will be difficult, and this also appears to be one means of breaking through that."
