With two weeks to go before the launch of South Korea's Major Crimes Investigation Agency and Public Prosecution Agency, delays across preparations are fueling concerns that the two bodies will start operating before they are ready. Leadership appointments for both organizations remain unfinished, making delays in senior personnel appointments unavoidable. The Public Prosecution Agency's organizational structure, follow-up legislation, the link to the Korea Information System of Criminal Justice Services (KICS), and buildings and equipment all remain incomplete, prompting warnings of operational confusion in the early days.
Ten days have passed since Interior and Safety Minister Yoon Ho-jung recommended on the 7th that President Lee Jae-myung appoint Kim Ji-yong, an attorney at law firm Apex, as the first head of the Major Crimes Investigation Agency, but no confirmation hearing has been scheduled, according to legal circles on the 17th. The delay is seen as stemming from the president's order for additional vetting after parts of the ruling bloc objected that naming Kim, a former prosecutor, ran counter to the aims of prosecution reform.
The selection of the Public Prosecution Agency chief is moving even more slowly. The committee recommending candidates for prosecutor general, under the Ministry of Justice, has yet to even set a date for its first meeting. Once the committee recommends three or more candidates, the justice minister must nominate one of them, who then must go through a parliamentary confirmation hearing. In legal circles, there is talk that Park Kyu-hyung, head of the planning and coordination division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, who is currently serving as acting head in place of another acting head, may continue standing in for the prosecutor general for some time after the new agency launches.
The leadership vacuum is also affecting appointments of key personnel. Under the law establishing the Major Crimes Investigation Agency, investigators at grade five and above are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the interior minister, who acts on nominations from the agency's chief. But with no chief in place to make those nominations, appointments of investigators at grade five and above are difficult to proceed with. Appointments of prosecutors at the Public Prosecution Agency likewise require a nomination by the justice minister after consulting the prosecutor general, and with both posts vacant, completing the process within two weeks appears unlikely.
Efforts to secure working-level staff are continuing right up to the launch. After 615 of the 2,375 applicants in the first round of special appointments last month withdrew, cutting the pool to 1,760, the interior ministry's task force preparing the agency's opening is holding a second round of special appointments from the 15th to the 20th of this month for prosecutors and prosecution service employees. Selections will run through the end of September, with appointments to be made in stages starting Oct. 2.
The Public Prosecution Agency's organizational framework has also yet to be finalized. A proposed structure for the agency, given public notice by the justice ministry on the 4th of this month, is being revised amid disputes over the number of prosecutor positions and the naming of a "judicial control division." Revisions to subordinate legislation, including presidential and prime ministerial decrees stemming from amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act, also remain outstanding. Excluding the Chuseok holiday, only about 10 days of substantive preparation time remain, making it likely that legal revisions will continue past the launch.
There are also concerns that the rush to overhaul the system could create unforeseen legal gaps. A pending amendment to the Certified Judicial Scriveners Act in the National Assembly reportedly changes the body to which judicial scriveners may draft and submit documents from the Prosecution Service to the Public Prosecution Agency, without specifying the Major Crimes Investigation Agency. If enacted as drafted, it could trigger disputes over whether judicial scriveners may prepare criminal complaints for submission to the investigation agency.
IT systems are another source of uncertainty. Because the Major Crimes Investigation Agency decided to use the National Police Agency's KICS rather than build a separate system, server and router installation and security and stability checks must all be completed before the launch. If the linkup is delayed, arrest, detention and search warrants may have to be submitted to the Public Prosecution Agency on paper. "There are so many gaps in the linkup that we may have to file warrants on paper until the end of this year," a prosecution official said. "In that case, we run into the problem of having to hand-deliver them from Euljiro to Seocho."
On top of that, orders for office equipment such as computers, telephones and printers have been delayed, and interior construction at the investigation agency's headquarters and regional offices has reportedly yet to begin in earnest in some cases. With leadership, staffing, organizational and legal frameworks, IT networks and buildings all incomplete at once, concerns are mounting that the country's new criminal justice system will begin operating without adequate preparation.
