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Justice minister voices concerns over DP's push for prosecutorial reform

Published: 28 Aug. 2025, 00:00

Justice Minister Chung Sung-ho waits during a plenary session at the National Assembly in Seoul on Aug. 25 while speaking on the phone. [YONHAP]

The Democratic Party is accelerating its prosecutorial reform drive with the aim of passing legislation before the Chuseok harvest festival. But Justice Minister Chung Sung-ho recently voiced reservations. His remarks appeared to align with President Lee Jae Myung’s comment during a Cabinet meeting on Aug. 18, when he urged Chung to ensure reforms were not rushed without proper deliberation.

The ruling party’s Special Committee on Restoring Prosecutorial Sovereignty has been drafting the reform plan. The central idea is to separate investigation and indictment. Under the proposal, the current prosecutors’ offices would be abolished, replaced by a new Prosecution Service under the Ministry of Justice handling indictments only. A separate Serious Crimes Investigation Agency would be created under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. In addition, a National Investigation Commission under the prime minister’s office would be tasked with coordinating investigative powers and reviewing appeals in cases where the police declined to press charges.

Appearing before the National Assembly’s Special Committee on Budget and Accounts on Monday, Chung warned of the risks of this structure. He stressed the need for checks and balances among investigative agencies and judicial oversight of first-line investigations. If the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency is placed under the Interior Ministry as proposed, three first-line investigative bodies — the police, the National Office of Investigation and the new agency — would all fall under the same ministry, potentially concentrating excessive power in one place.

Chung also questioned the feasibility of assigning the National Investigation Commission to review police decisions not to refer cases for prosecution, noting there are more than 40,000 such cases each year. An independent administrative body, he said, could not realistically handle the caseload. Without effective review, ordinary citizens could be left without recourse. For that reason, some argue that the new Prosecution Service should retain the authority to request supplementary investigations. Critics also warn that a complete separation of investigation and indictment could weaken the state's ability to combat crime. While political collusion by some prosecutors has been a problem, treating the entire institution as malign and abolishing it altogether may go too far.

From the outset, the Democratic Party’s decision to set a deadline before Chuseok for such a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s investigative system was misguided. Preventing an overload of investigative bodies and ensuring proper checks and balances requires careful institutional design, not hasty deadlines. As seen with the "Yellow Envelope Bill," the party’s habit of pushing laws through first and fixing problems later risks undermining public trust. A governing party must act with restraint, gather broad input and legislate responsibly to minimize unintended consequences.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.