With the revised Criminal Procedure Act taking effect on Oct. 2 and ending prosecutors' authority to direct investigations by labor inspectors, who serve as special judicial police officers, Employment and Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon said the ministry will "actively make use of guidance and advice from prosecutors." The remark is seen as an attempt to ease anxiety in the field over conducting investigations without prosecutorial direction, even as the ministry builds its own system of accountable investigation.
"With this independence in investigative authority, the Ministry of Employment and Labor must take another leap forward," Kim said on the 30th at a nationwide meeting of regional office heads. "Each regional office head is no longer simply an administrative manager but the final authority responsible for handling labor cases in their jurisdiction."
Labor inspectors, who have handled labor cases under prosecutorial direction since the Labor Standards Act was enacted in 1953, will gain independent investigative authority in two days. Inspectors will conduct investigations on their own without direction from prosecutors, and each regional office head will bear final responsibility for closing cases and making judgments.
On the changed investigative environment, Kim said, "Because this is an untraveled road, we are aware that there are concerns in some quarters," urging officials to "strengthen cooperation with related agencies, including making use of guidance and advice from prosecutors."
Some observers expect that guidance and advice from prosecutors will in practice replace the former role of investigative direction in the field. Kim's emphasis on using such guidance is also seen as an effort to prevent confusion in the field caused by the absence of prosecutorial direction.
The ministry is running a hands-on "investigation school" to strengthen investigative capacity in the field. From next year, it will push to establish a Labor Investigation Training Center as a dedicated professional training institution. It has also set up investigation review committees at headquarters and at seven regional labor offices nationwide, along with a system in which headquarters provides direct support for cases with wide social impact. At the same time, the ministry is preparing measures at the headquarters level to protect labor inspectors.
Kim presented accountable investigation, fair investigation and specialized investigation as three core goals, stressing that "this is the time to take another step forward to protect workers' working conditions and improve their rights and interests."
