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National Assembly approves bill to abolish Korea’s Prosecution Service

Published: 26 Sep. 2025, 20:45

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho District, southern Seoul is seen on Sept. 26. The National Assembly passed a bill to abolish the Prosecution Service on the same day. [YONHAP]

Korea will abolish its Prosecution Service next October, 78 years after its founding in 1948, under a sweeping reorganization bill passed Friday.

The bill, led by the Democratic Party (DP), calls for the abolition of the Prosecution Service and the establishment of two new agencies: a new office for indictments under the Ministry of Justice and the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

Because the change rewrites the foundation of the prosecution system, the abolition clause will take effect one year after promulgation. Lawmakers said the delay allows time to revise the Criminal Procedure Act and other laws.

The National Assembly approved the bill with 174 votes in favor, one against and five abstentions. Of 180 lawmakers present, none were from the conservative People Power Party (PPP), which walked out in protest.

The PPP staged a filibuster the previous day, but the DP and its allies swiftly ended it by pushing through a motion to terminate debate just 24 hours later, with unanimous support from all 184 lawmakers present.

The DP plans to use the same approach to pass other contentious legislation, including a bill to create a new Broadcast Media and Telecommunications Commission, revisions to the National Assembly Act to realign committee names and responsibilities in line with the new ministries, and amendments to the National Assembly Testimony and Appraisal Act to allow retroactive prosecution for perjury in already-disbanded committees.

The bill passed on Friday also includes a plan to split the Ministry of Economy and Finance — created in 2008 by merging the Ministry of Finance and Economy with the Ministry of Planning and Budget — back into two separate entities starting Jan. 2, 2026.

Democratic Party lawmakers Jung Chung-rae, Jo Seoung-lae and Kim Byung-kee converse after voting on a sweeping government reorganization bill at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul on Sept. 26. [YONHAP]

The merged ministry was named the Ministry of Economy and Finance in English, but the Korean name in its direct translation is known as the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.

The reestablished Ministry of Finance and Economy will be responsible for economic policy, foreign exchange, treasury, taxation and international finance. A new Budget Office under the Prime Minister’s Office will oversee national development strategy, fiscal policy, and the planning and management of budgets and public funds.

Initial plans to move domestic financial policy from the Financial Services Commission (FSC) to the Ministry of Finance and Economy were dropped. During a high-level meeting between the DP and the government on Thursday, the two sides agreed to postpone the change, citing potential confusion in financial policy coordination for six to seven months if the related legislation faced continued delays due to the PPP’s opposition.

To reflect this change, the DP submitted a revised version of the reorganization bill on Thursday, which was then put to a vote on Friday.

“While the reorganization of the FSC is not included in the revised bill, it does not mean we will completely abandon it,” said presidential aide Kim Byung-wook on JTBC’s YouTube channel on Friday. “We will continue to review the option.”

People Power Party Rep. Choi Hyung-du speaks during a filibuster on the abolishment of the Korea Communications Commission and the establishment of a new Broadcast Media and Telecommunications Commission, at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul on Sept. 26. [YONHAP]

“We plan to strictly separate the policy and supervisory departments within the current FSC while strengthening independence and consumer protection in oversight,” said a senior DP official.

Other changes include the creation of a Deputy Prime Minister for Science and Technology, a post held concurrently by the Minister of Science and ICT, while the Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs — currently held by the Minister of Education — will be scrapped due to limited effectiveness.

The Ministry of Environment will absorb energy policy functions from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and be reorganized into the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family will be expanded and renamed the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Affairs, with a stronger mandate to address reverse discrimination. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will be renamed the Ministry of Industry and Trade following the removal of energy policy.

The Statistics Korea and Korean Intellectual Property Office will be elevated to the Prime Minister’s Office as the National Data Agency and the Intellectual Property Agency, respectively.

The Korea Communications Commission will be abolished and replaced with the new Broadcast Media and Telecommunications Commission under the Ministry of Science and ICT. These reorganizations will take effect upon promulgation.

The PPP, which strongly opposes the DP’s unilateral passage of the bills, announced plans to stage unlimited debates not only on contentious legislation but on all bills moving forward.

People Power Party Rep. Park Soo-min walks away from the podium after delivering a filibuster on the sweeping government reorganization bill at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul on Sept. 26. [YONHAP]

On Thursday evening, PPP lawmaker Park So-min began a filibuster that lasted 17 hours and 12 minutes — breaking his own previous record of 15 hours and 50 minutes set in August last year during a protest against a DP-led proposal to provide 250,000 won ($177) in relief funds to every citizen.

“If they remove the Prosecution Service and create new agencies, wouldn't 13,000 prosecutors and investigators be forced to relinquish their work?” said Park during the filibuster. “You must build a new house before tearing down the old one.”

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.
BY HA JUN-HO [[email protected]]