Korea splits its prosecutors into two agencies run by acting chiefs, opposition says

Kang Myung-koo's 68% is a ceiling. "Even combining all applicants from the first and second rounds of hiring, it comes to only 68% of the authorized headcount," said Kang, the opposition's liaison on the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee ^[11]. Applicants are not hires. If every applicant from both rounds passed screening and showed up, 32% of authorized posts would still be empty on opening day ^[1]. Each applicant who drops out pushes that share higher. Kang also said, "There is no agency head, there are not enough staff, and even the computers for the staff to use are not properly prepared" ^[10].

By Chung Jom-sig's count, the nomination has been stalled for more than three weeks. "They nominated a candidate to head the Major Crimes Investigation Agency but have not sent a confirmation hearing request to the National Assembly for more than three weeks," said Chung, the party's floor leader ^[8]. If his account is accurate, the order of events shows where the government put its effort. The law passed and the October 2 launch held, while the hearing request for its own nominee went unsent ^[1][8].

Chung's other complaint was about a power. "At midnight tonight, the Prosecution Service disappears, and the prosecution's power to conduct supplementary investigations disappears with it," he said ^[4]. His example was Jang Yun-gi, who was convicted of rape and murder. Chung said Jang got a life sentence at first trial because of the prosecution's supplementary investigation, and that without it the case could have ended in a five-year term ^[5]. He predicted that handoffs between agencies would go wrong: "Even when a violent crime occurs, detention periods will expire as investigative agencies play ping-pong with the case" ^[6].

The party's examples were rape, murder and retaliatory crime ^[13]. The report quotes only the opposition, and it does not say how financial and corporate cases will be divided between the Major Crimes Investigation Agency and the Public Prosecution Office ^[3]. A company under investigation in Korea needs to know which body now holds its file and how many investigators that body has. Kang's figure puts an upper limit on the second number ^[11].

Three outcomes fit these facts. In the first, the acting chiefs stay for months and the staff shortage does the most damage at the stage Kang singled out. "The most important thing in a criminal investigation is the initial response and the initial investigation," he said ^[12]. In the second, the figures turn out to be overstated. They come from a party whose lawmakers carried picket signs shaped like funeral portraits outside the agency the morning before it opened ^[1]. In the third, the authorized headcount includes room for growth, and an agency at about two-thirds strength keeps up because fewer cases arrive than planners expected.

I'd put the most weight on the first. The step that would end it is sending Kim Ji-yong's hearing request, and by Chung's account that had not happened after more than three weeks ^[8]. The strongest case against this view is the third outcome. If it holds, cases will close on schedule despite the empty seats.