[Exclusive] "Preventing an Investigative Vacuum After Prosecution Abolition"... Supreme Prosecutors’ Office to Return All Directly Issued Arrest Warrants and Transfer Cases to Police

Arrest Warrants for Direct Prosecutor Cases to Be Returned and Transferred to Police

Ongoing Investigations to Be Categorized as 'To Be Processed Before the Law Takes Effect', '90-Day Investigations', and 'Transfers'

Preliminary Investigation Transfers Require Supreme Prosecutors' Office Approval

Detailed Coordination Underway Throughout September

On July 1, a flag in front of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, fluttered in the wind as Shim Woo-jung, the Prosecutor General, expressed his intention to resign after only nine months in office. The Special Investigation Team for Internal Affairs plans to investigate Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung for abuse of authority and other charges after he immediately gave up on filing an appeal following the cancellation of former President Yoon Seok-yeol's detention. 2025.07.01 Photo by Yoon Dong-joo

With the abolition of the Prosecutors’ Office and the launch of the Public Prosecution Service scheduled for October 2, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office has decided to return all existing arrest warrants—originally requested directly by prosecutors, leading to wanted notices—to the courts, and to transfer these cases to the police or other relevant agencies. This measure is intended to prevent an unprecedented situation where suspects arrested after the loss of prosecutorial investigative authority cannot be investigated and must therefore be immediately released.

According to legal sources on September 3, the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office has instructed local prosecutors’ offices to return the arrest warrants for suspects in cases where prosecutors have directly issued wanted notices—lifting the wanted status—before the Public Prosecution Service Act takes effect. The cases are to be transferred to the police or special judicial police (special investigators). The police or special investigators receiving the cases are expected to apply for and obtain new arrest warrants before October 2, preventing any interruption in the investigation process.

The core aim of this measure is to prevent judicial risks arising from the abolition of the prosecution’s direct investigative authority. Currently, if a suspect wanted under an existing prosecutorial arrest warrant is apprehended, prosecutors can take custody and proceed with the investigation. However, after October 2, prosecutorial investigative authority will, in principle, be abolished, so even if they secure a suspect, prosecutors will lack the legal authority to interrogate them and may have to immediately release them. The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office plans to review approximately 700,000 cases to identify those in which prosecutors have directly requested arrest warrants.

Along with returning the arrest warrants, a comprehensive review and sorting of ongoing direct investigation cases will take place. The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office has directed that ongoing cases be categorized and listed into three types: cases to be processed before October 2; cases to be processed within the 90-day grace period (by December 30); and cases where transfer is unavoidable.

Cases that can be completed by the deadline will be processed directly by the prosecution without transfer, while those expected to exceed the deadline will be gradually transferred to the police or the newly established Serious Crime Investigation Agency.

A new set of criteria has also been introduced for handling complaints and preliminary investigations. Prosecutorial intelligence and internal investigation cases considered to have low investigative necessity will be closed before the new system is implemented. On the other hand, cases deemed to require further investigation will be subject to stricter controls: local prosecutors’ offices will be prohibited from unilaterally transferring such cases and must obtain approval from the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office before handing them over to the police or other investigative agencies. A representative of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office stated, “As investigative powers are being abolished, we are conducting prompt coordination between the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and local prosecutors' offices throughout September to ensure there is no judicial vacuum and to clarify the scope of continued investigations and transfers.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.