The End of the Investigating Prosecutor: The New Prosecution Office Faces a Test of Its Public-Interest Role

South Korea’s 78-year-old prosecution service is set to disappear in a month, ending an era in which prosecutors both investigated crimes and brought cases to court.

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In the past, the prosecution went beyond the role of directing investigations and became immersed in playing the game itself.

From October 2, direct investigative powers will be abolished. Police and the newly created Major Crimes Investigation Office, which will sit under the Interior and Safety Ministry, will handle investigations. A new Prosecution Office will decide whether to indict cases referred by those agencies and maintain the prosecutions in court.

The change removes the investigation function from the legal definition of a prosecutor’s duties. Under the new Prosecution Office Act, prosecutors remain “representatives of the public,” but their listed responsibilities center on deciding whether to bring charges, maintaining those charges, and exercising legal control over investigations. Their role will shift toward that of courtroom-focused legal specialists rather than primary investigators.

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Prosecutors' sense of responsibility for cases will decrease.

That structure is expected to strengthen the prosecutor’s duty to examine evidence objectively. Without having investigated the case, prosecutors will need to review material submitted by police and the Major Crimes Investigation Office, weighing evidence favorable and unfavorable to suspects before deciding whether a crime has been established. They will also be expected to scrutinize warrant applications and requests for supplementary investigations, checking for rights violations and breaches of law.

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If we have to decide whether to indict based only on records, we will have no choice but to make defensive judgments.

The transition also carries concerns. Experts say crime-fighting capacity could initially weaken because prosecutors will place greater weight on the legality of investigations and the likelihood of conviction. One professor warned that prosecutors could habitually decline to indict unclear cases, while a senior Seoul prosecutor said decisions based only on records would encourage defensive judgments. Another lawyer said the new office could become overly judge-like if it emphasizes objectivity, although he expects it may still actively request supplementary investigations before charges are decided.

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Depending on how the system is operated, the role of prosecutors may change.