The Korean National Police Agency has proposed specific criteria to the government for cases subject to reporting under the draft enforcement decree of the Act on the Organization and Operation of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, it has been confirmed. The move reflects concerns that reporting up to 580,000 cases to the agency in bulk could increase the burden on public livelihood investigations and administrative work.
According to the office of People Power Party lawmaker Seo Beom-soo on Monday, the police submitted its "Korean National Police Agency review opinion on the draft enforcement decree of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency Act" to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. The opinion contained criteria for cases the police would report to the agency. Specifically, it stated that property crimes under the Criminal Act should be limited to cases of 500 million won or more subject to the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, and that only bribery under the Criminal Act and violations of the Act on the Control of Narcotics subject to the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes should be reported.
The police also requested that voice phishing cases be excluded from the reporting scope. It argued that since a government-wide response system is currently operated around the "Integrated Telecommunications Financial Fraud Response Team," it would be more appropriate for the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency to participate in the existing system rather than have individual cases transferred to it.
The police stated that additional offenses involving the same criminal facts or the same suspect should be excluded from the reporting scope. It also said the criteria for the agency's requests to transfer cases need to be made more specific, presenting five judgment standards, including the severity of the case, the investigation period, and whether the statute of limitations is nearing expiration.
