The task force preparing to launch the Major Crimes Investigation Agency under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced its first group of special hires on the 16th. With investigators now lined up, an advance team to handle launch preparations could be dispatched as early as next week.
According to legal sources, the task force notified applicants at grade 6 and below individually on the same day. The notices included whether the applicant had been selected and which office they will report to starting Oct. 2. The hires will resign from the prosecution offices where they now work and transfer to the agency's headquarters or one of its regional offices.
"As the resignation process moves forward, the split of personnel from the prosecution offices being abolished into the investigation agency and the new prosecution service can begin in earnest," said an official familiar with the prosecution. "With only about three weeks left before the launch, the task force may dispatch advance personnel first." Sending staff to prepare the opening of the headquarters and the Seoul, Busan, Suwon, Daejeon and Gwangju regional offices would allow them to review everything from organizational structure to internal facilities and equipment.
Preparations are now under way in earnest, but unease persists inside and outside the legal community. Launching a new criminal justice structure requires meticulous groundwork, and there is little time left. Some argue that with organizational stability the first priority, the agency may be unable to perform its core functions for some time after opening.
"For an investigative body, security is the single most important thing," one legal official said. "The headquarters and each regional office are operating in leased space, which makes it difficult to build a secure investigative environment." The official added: "There are even concerns that phones, computers, printers and other office and investigative equipment may not be secured in time. Some are asking whether the agency will have to bring in equipment sitting unused in basement storage at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and elsewhere."
