Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office Scales Back Investigative Unit Amid Reforms

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office is reportedly downsizing its investigative intelligence division, colloquially known as 'Beomjeong.' This unit is responsible for gathering crime-related information and intelligence that can initiate direct investigations by prosecutors. The office recently transferred five investigators from this division to other departments, with the changes taking effect on October 27.

This reduction in personnel is widely seen as a strategic move by the prosecution service in anticipation of significant legal reforms. These reforms include the abolition of the prosecution's direct investigative authority, as stipulated in amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act, and the planned closure of the Prosecutor's Office on October 2. Following these changes, the prosecution, operating under a new structure as a "prosecution office" (Gongsocheong), will be prohibited from conducting direct investigations.

This is not the first time the prosecution's direct investigative capacity has been curtailed. Following the launch of the Moon Jae-in administration in 2017, the organizational structure and staffing of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's crime information planning division were also reduced as part of broader reform efforts aimed at shrinking the prosecution's direct investigative functions. A prosecution official explained that the current personnel reallocation is a necessary step due to the elimination of the prosecution's direct investigative functions starting in October.

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As the prosecution's direct investigative functions will disappear from October, related organizations and personnel have been reassigned.