Minor Party Slams Prosecution Overhaul for Keeping 2,292 Prosecutor Slots

The Rebuilding Korea Party criticized the government's organizational plan for the new Public Prosecution Office as "a trick to protect prosecutors' vested interests," saying it keeps the existing quota of 2,292 prosecutors intact even though prosecutors have been stripped of investigative authority. The party said it will introduce its own bill to revise the law governing prosecutor headcount.

Shin Jang-sik, leader of the Rebuilding Korea Party, told a news conference on the 6th that the government should "stop using tricks to protect prosecutors' vested interests," and called on it to "come up with a revised prosecutor quota law that matches the purpose of separating investigation from indictment, along with an appropriate organizational plan for the new office."

The government gave public notice on the 4th of a proposed decree establishing the Public Prosecution Office and its affiliated agencies, along with a revision to the enforcement decree of the Prosecutor Quota Act. The party took issue with the retention of the existing quota of 2,292 prosecutors despite the abolition of prosecutors' investigative duties, arguing that the government is trying to adjust internal staffing through the enforcement decree rather than change the quota through legislation.

"More than a third of prosecution work has been investigation, and staffing was concentrated in investigative divisions," Shin said. "If the investigative function is abolished, shouldn't the number of prosecutors be cut by at least a third in arithmetic terms?"

The party argued that caseloads at the new office should be recalculated and the prosecutor quota reduced accordingly. Based on its own analysis, it called for cuts to division chiefs, planning officers and research prosecutors at the office's headquarters, as well as deputy chiefs and division chiefs at the Seoul Central District office, and for a reduction of at least a third in the quota for rank-and-file prosecutors. It also said the headquarters should be downsized, existing prosecution structures such as regional offices realigned, and titles symbolizing the old prosecution system, including "chief prosecutor," revised.

Shin also faulted the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. "This is the executive branch's time, and the primary responsibility for backing this with legislation lies with the ruling Democratic Party," he said after the news conference. "We cannot help asking whether there was close consultation between the government and the Democratic Party, and between the justice ministry and the Democratic Party."

"Seeing the executive branch bring forward this kind of trick, we concluded that either the government and the ruling party failed to consult properly, or the Democratic Party has been distracted by something and is not fulfilling its responsibility," Shin said. "Our party will not give up its role as a red team for the government's success and as an icebreaker for prosecution reform."

Kim Hyung-yeon, a member of the party's supreme council, said the quota for prosecutors at the new office "is supposed to be set by law, and it is worrying that the Democratic Party is paying no attention to this." He added, "Even if it has to be us alone, our party will submit a revision to the Prosecutor Quota Act as soon as possible."

The party said, however, that it would not cut the quota by a flat one-third. "We cannot lop off a third in a rough-and-ready way," Kim said. "We will obtain the data the government used in preparing the revised enforcement decree, review whether it holds up, and then submit our bill."