615 Applicants Withdraw From South Korea’s New Major Crimes Investigation Agency

South Korea’s planned Major Crimes Investigation Agency faces a smaller initial applicant pool than expected, with 615 people withdrawing from the special recruitment process. The final number of applicants is 1,761, compared with the original 2,376.

The agency will take over the prosecution service’s investigative functions as part of the government’s restructuring of the system. Its launch preparation unit said it would continue recruiting through competitive hiring from police officers, lawyers, accountants and patent attorneys. It will also run an additional special recruitment process for employees of the existing prosecution service, now referred to in the announcement as the Prosecution Office.

The preparation unit said the measures would help ensure that the agency opens as scheduled on Oct. 2. Additional special applications can be submitted until April 30 next year.

Officials have not disclosed why the 615 applicants withdrew. The report cited speculation that changing the title from prosecutor to investigator and requiring applicants to move to a different organization may have discouraged some candidates. Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office chief prosecutor Lim Eun-jeong is also reported to have applied. If appointed, she would lose her status as a prosecutor and work as a first-grade investigator.

The government has allocated 472.4 billion won in next year’s budget for the Major Crimes Investigation Agency. The separate Prosecution Office, which will handle indictments and maintain prosecutions, has been allocated 1.0854 trillion won.

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We will proceed in parallel with competitive recruitment from police officers, lawyers, accountants and patent attorneys, as well as an additional special recruitment process for employees of the Prosecution Office, so that the Major Crimes Investigation Agency can launch without disruption on October 2.