South Korea’s Justice Minister Pick Calls for Major Overhaul of Prosecution Powers

President Lee Jae Myung’s nominee for justice minister, Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Jung Sung-ho, declared on Wednesday that stripping the public prosecution service of its investigative authority was inevitable.

During a National Assembly hearing on his nomination, Jung stated, “Reforming the prosecution service is the demand of our times.”

“To maintain the political neutrality of the prosecution service and to rein in its excessive powers, reforming the prosecution is an unavoidable path,” Jung emphasized.

Jung’s remarks on Wednesday echoed President Lee’s calls for transforming the prosecution service into a non-investigative body as part of a major overhaul of the nation’s criminal justice system.

On July 3, during his first press conference since taking office approximately four weeks earlier, Lee asserted that prosecutors had brought the reform plan upon themselves. “Manipulating cases to construct an indictment is absolutely unacceptable,” the president declared.

Even before his presidential candidacy, Lee had advocated for curtailing the prosecution’s investigative powers, claiming that criminal investigations into allegations surrounding him and his close associates were politically motivated.

Bills introduced by the Democratic Party shortly after Lee’s inauguration would effectively dismantle the current prosecution service and replace it with new entities. This approach mirrors the reform initiatives pursued under former President Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party.

Former President Moon, who had also prioritized prosecutorial reform during his administration, removed prosecutors’ authority to investigate corruption and other crimes involving high-ranking officials, establishing a new agency called the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials.

In recent years, the prosecution service has led some of the most high-profile investigations into political and corporate elites, including former conservative Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye, as well as Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong.

Critics argue that diminishing the prosecution’s role could lead to reduced oversight in the criminal justice system, as police would have the power to terminate investigations without input from prosecutors.