With the abolition of the prosecution service about three months away, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office has moved to establish internal work discipline. After some employees were found to have repeatedly taken sick leave without medical certificates or habitually arrived late and left early without authorization, the office launched inspections and disciplinary action, adopting a zero-tolerance principle. Some observers interpret the move as the prosecution tightening internal management to protect organizational trust at a time when the debate over the future of prosecutors' supplementary investigation powers has resurfaced amid controversy over shoddy police investigations.
According to the legal community on the 20th, Park Chul-woo, head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, sent work notices to all employees twice, on the 8th and 9th of this month, calling for "the establishment of work discipline." The measure followed the recent detection of cases of dereliction of duty by some investigators and administrative staff at the Central District Office.
One administrative staffer was found to have taken sick leave several times without medical certificates in order to avoid work after being assigned to a particular department. Another employee was reportedly found to have habitually arrived late or left early without permission.
The Central District Office investigated their sick leave and attendance records over the past year to determine whether there had been negligence, unauthorized absence, and failure to follow supervisors' orders. It subsequently launched inspections into some employees and reportedly imposed disciplinary measures on those whose misconduct was severe.
In the work notice, Park is reported to have stressed, in effect, that "related cases are being shared to raise employees' awareness," and that "public officials have a duty to faithfully perform their duties and comply with the legitimate orders of their supervisors."
Ahead of the abolition of the prosecution service on October 2 this year, uncertainty over organizational restructuring and personnel transfers is growing at frontline prosecutors' offices. With special counsel dispatches and prosecutorial resignations continuing, and follow-up appointments to fill vacancies failing to proceed properly, some point out that gaps are widening not only in investigations but also in administrative work.
"There have been some cases in the past of employees repeatedly taking sick leave after being assigned to demanding departments," a prosecution official said. "Given the organizational crisis, we are now applying strict standards even to matters that had previously been overlooked as customary practice." Both inside and outside the prosecution, some analysts suggest that with the debate over the abolition of supplementary investigation powers reignited, the organization is raising the level of management to protect trust in internal discipline and investigative capabilities.
