Rep. Park Sangung: "The Serious Crimes Investigation Agency Requested the Transfer of Just One Case from Police"

"Nearly a month after its launch,
isn't it effectively closed for business?"

People Power Party lawmaker Park Sang-ung, a member of the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee, strongly criticized Serious Crimes Investigation Agency Chief Kim Ji-yong during a comprehensive audit of state affairs, saying the agency had requested the transfer of only one of the 2,002 cases involving serious crimes and other offenses reported by the police, and accusing it of taking a passive approach to taking over cases.

On October 26, when asked about the status of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency’s notifications and transfer requests concerning serious crimes and other offenses under police investigation, the police said that they had notified the agency of a total of 2,002 cases since the revised Criminal Procedure Act took effect on October 2, and that the agency had requested the transfer of just one case.

Rep. Park Sangwoong of the People Power Party. [Photo provided by Rep. Park Sangwoong's office]

Assemblyman Park pressed Chief Kim to explain why the agency had requested the transfer of only one case.

Chief Kim responded that the agency considers which institution would be better suited to investigate each case in terms of protecting the public’s rights and interests and establishing the substantive truth.

Park pressed him further: “Are you saying that, apart from requesting that one case be transferred, you have not made any other requests because you did not consider any cases serious or urgent from the perspective of protecting the public’s rights and interests?”

Park criticized the agency, saying, “The Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, which is nearing its first month since opening, has been notified by the police of 2,002 cases but has requested the transfer of just one. This is a passive approach that is effectively no different from being closed for business.”

Although the agency was established to investigate serious crimes, it has been reluctant to take over cases in practice, leaving the burden of investigations on the police, critics say.

In particular, Assemblyman Park Sang-ung urged Kim Jong-cheol, acting commissioner of the Korean National Police Agency, to ensure that “the police conduct thorough investigations with principle, conviction and a clear sense of purpose, since the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency has opened but is still in a transitional period and not yet fully prepared.”

Park Sang-ung’s request that the police investigate with conviction and a clear sense of purpose, given his view that the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency is still in a transitional period, appears intended to ensure that the public is not inconvenienced.

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