Ministry of Justice Issues Legislative Notice for "Public Prosecutor's Office Organization Act"... Prosecution's Investigative Divisions to Be Reorganized and Consolidated

Of 8,412 Total Staff, 2,292 Are Prosecutors
New “Judiciary Control Division” to Oversee Non-Referral Cases

The organizational structure and staffing plan for the Public Prosecution Agency, slated to launch on October 2, have been outlined. Investigation-related departments within the prosecution will be consolidated or dissolved, and a new “Judicial Control Division” dedicated to reviewing cases not forwarded by judicial police officers will be established within local prosecution agencies.

Ministry of Justice Building, Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

On September 4, the Ministry of Justice announced that it has put up for legislative notice the proposed enactment of the “Public Prosecution Agency and Its Affiliated Organizations Framework” and the amendment to the “Enforcement Decree of the Public Prosecutor’s Quota Act.” The public consultation will be open until September 9.

The Ministry of Justice has proposed a staff size of 8,412 employees for the agency. Of these, 2,292 will be prosecutors and 6,120 will be administrative personnel. The plan foresees the agency headquarters consisting of six divisions, six bureaus (including public relations), and 30 departments or officers. At the regional level, there will be six metropolitan prosecution agencies, each with four divisions, six bureaus, and 14 departments; 18 local prosecution agencies and 42 branches, with a total of 221 divisions, 28 bureaus, and 138 departments among them.

With the separation of investigation and prosecution functions, investigation-related units will be either abolished or merged. The Crime Information Office, which analyzed, verified, and evaluated information on cases initiated by prosecutors, as well as its two subordinate departments, will be dissolved entirely. The Anti-Corruption Division and the Narcotics and Organized Crime Division at headquarters will be consolidated into a single Serious Crimes Division. The Scientific Investigations Division, previously composed of four departments led by chief prosecutors, will be reorganized into the Forensic Science Office with three units led by deputy chief prosecutors. As field forensic functions transfer to the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, the Public Prosecution Agency will focus on cross-examination, evidence preservation, and the operation of analysis systems.

At the frontline agencies, 43 investigative and joint investigation units, which previously handled direct investigations, will be abolished and consolidated into 29 Serious Crime Units. All 67 investigation and inquiry offices will be eliminated. The positions of the fourth deputy chief prosecutor at the Seoul Central Public Prosecution Office and the second deputy chief prosecutors at the Daegu and Busan local offices will also be removed.

The Serious Crime Units will no longer conduct direct investigations but will instead support and cooperate with other investigative agencies on serious crimes and handle cases in specialized fields. Among these, five units will be dedicated to offering legal assessments and recommendations for evidence collection at the investigation initiation and warrant application stages, in response to the five joint investigation offices set up in the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency.

Organizations responsible for public safety and criminal cases will be expanded. A new Deputy Director of Criminal Planning, at the deputy chief prosecutor level, will be established at headquarters, and a Special Judicial Police Cooperation Division will be added to systematically provide guidance and advice from prosecutors to special judicial police. The current quota of 122 deputy prosecutors, who handle minor cases, will be retained at the Public Prosecution Agency.

The newly established Judicial Control Division at local prosecution offices will exclusively review cases not forwarded by police. Currently, such cases are handled alongside transferred cases by ordinary prosecution teams without a dedicated unit. The Ministry of Justice aims to reduce the risks of poor investigations and case cover-ups by establishing exclusive units, especially as supplementary investigations by prosecutors will no longer be possible in these situations.

The Judicial Control Division will utilize the fact-finding procedure adopted in the revised Criminal Procedure Act to scrutinize non-transferred cases to the same standard as transferred cases and may request reinvestigation if the investigation is found lacking or unlawful. Cases where judicial police officers unjustifiably fail to comply with supplementary investigation requests or corrective measures—warranting dismissal or disciplinary action—will also be reassigned to the Judicial Control Division for review of compliance. The division will also be responsible for handling appeals involving decisions not to prosecute which have been ordered for retrial by a higher agency, and for monitoring compliance with the record-keeping and registration requirements for the Criminal Justice Information System (KICS).

Functions related to execution of sentences, trial proceedings, and the recovery of criminal proceeds are being adjusted as well. The Criminal Proceeds Recovery Office, currently part of the Narcotics and Organized Crime Division at headquarters, will be reassigned to the Litigation Division. Eleven Prosecution Administration Offices will be created at local agencies to handle the apprehension of those failing to serve prison sentences and to provide litigation support. The Seoul Central, Nam-bu (Southern), and Busan Public Prosecution Offices will each house three Criminal Proceeds Recovery Divisions and three associated departments.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice plans to set an evaluation period of up to three years for newly established or reorganized departments such as the Judicial Control Division and the Serious Crime Units, during which their workload, performance, and results will be assessed in accordance with relevant regulations.

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