The South Korean government will raise next year's budget for justice and major crime investigation by 24% from this year to support the launch of a new criminal justice framework centered on the Major Crimes Investigation Agency and the Public Prosecution Office.
Under the 2027 budget proposal announced by the government on the 1st, spending on justice and major crime investigation was set at 6.13 trillion won ($4.4 billion). That is 24.2%, or 1.19 trillion won, more than this year's 4.93 trillion won.
The Major Crimes Investigation Agency, which begins operations in October, was allocated 472.4 billion won. The agency will investigate seven categories of crime, including corruption, economic crime, defense procurement, narcotics, crimes against the state such as insurrection and treason, cybercrime and the distortion of law. It plans to start with 2,874 staff, including 2,567 investigators and 307 general civil servants. The headquarters will handle investigative policy, oversight of investigations and human rights protection policy. Regional offices in six cities — Seoul, Suwon, Daejeon, Daegu, Busan and Gwangju — will directly investigate major crime cases in their jurisdictions.
The Public Prosecution Office, which will handle indictments and the prosecution of cases in court, was allocated 1.09 trillion won. Its organizational structure and detailed staffing have not yet been finalized.
Funding to strengthen support for crime victims also increased. The budget for state compensation payments, intended to provide swift relief to victims of past state abuses and other cases, was expanded to 840 billion won from 144.8 billion won this year.
The increase reflects a rise in court rulings ordering state compensation, after the government repeatedly waived or withdrew appeals in damages suits tied to past state abuses. As of March, the Ministry of Justice had waived appeals in 863 cases involving 3,587 people, including the Brothers Home, Seongam Academy, Samcheong Re-education Camp and the Yeosu-Suncheon October 19 incident, and had paid a combined 199.58 billion won to 2,202 victims.
The budget sets aside 13.3 billion won for the state-appointed attorney program for crime victims and 14.2 billion won for crime victim relief payments. The Ministry of Justice had earlier expanded the scope of state-appointed attorney assignments from crimes such as sexual violence and stalking to specified violent crimes including murder, robbery and the formation of or participation in criminal organizations. Another 17.5 billion won was allocated to establish 16 new juvenile protection institutions dedicated to probation, community service, mandatory courses and rehabilitation support for juvenile offenders.
