Rep. Seo Young-kyo: "No Disagreements with Justice Minister Jung on Criminal Procedure Act Revision... Quick Fixes If Issues Arise"

[Joo Young-jin's News Briefing]

When citing this interview, please specify the program name 'SBS <Joo Young-jin's News Briefing>'. Copyright belongs to SBS.

■ Broadcast: SBS <Joo Young-jin's News Briefing> Mon – Fri (14:00 – 15:20)
■ Host: Anchor Joo Young-jin
■ Guest: Seo Young-kyo, Chair of the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee
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● Interview with Seo Young-kyo, Chair of the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee
"Criminal Procedure Act Amendment Calls on Prosecutors to End Removal of Political Rivals and Distorted Targeted Investigations"
"Benefits of Supplementary Investigation Authority Transferred to Right to Request Supplementary Investigation... Can Be Sufficiently Complemented"
"Senior Superintendent General Conducting Direct Investigation? Not True... Investigations Handled by National Investigation Headquarters"
"About 200 Related Laws... 6 Months Needed for Legislative Revisions" 
"Subcommittee Met 9 Times, Plenary 6 Times... Fast Pace, But Thorough Deliberation Completed"
"Close Communication with Justice Minister Jung Seong-ho... No Difference of Opinion"
"Mandatory Referral of All Crimes Against Vulnerable Groups to Pass in September Regular Session"
"Moving to Serious Crimes Investigation Agency Won't Lower Compensation... Top-Performing Prosecutors and Police Will Be Promoted "
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▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: You might have been the busiest person in politics over the past few months, or the past few weeks. We are joined by Seo Young-kyo, Chair of the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee. Welcome.

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: Hello.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Thank you for your hard work. The amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act has finally passed.

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: That is correct.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: While there are voices of concern, what was the underlying rationale for amending the Criminal Procedure Act in the first place?

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: Yes. The Criminal Procedure Act has been revised for the first time in 78 years, since South Korea was established in 1948. And it has been 72 years since the Criminal Procedure Act was enacted. Back then, investigative powers were given to prosecutors to protect human rights because the police had so many issues. As a result, prosecutors ended up holding indictment powers, investigative powers, and warrant request powers all together, leading to a monopoly, arrogance, targeted investigations, distorted investigations, and using all that authority to eliminate political rivals. So the Criminal Procedure Act amendment began with the goal of dividing power—giving investigative powers to the police and indictment powers to prosecutors. Now that it is finalized, investigative authority has been removed from prosecutors, and that authority has been given to the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency—creating a Korean version of the FBI. Additionally, the right to demand investigations previously held by prosecutors has been transferred to the police as the right to request supplementary investigations. That is how we structured it.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: On what grounds do you argue that this will practically benefit the public? What is the basis for your judgment that separating investigation and indictment will benefit the people?

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: It means prosecutors themselves must bring an end to removing political rivals, conducting distorted or targeted investigations, or fabricating evidence and indicting based on it. Once prosecutors break away from those practices, what they excel at is indicting cases investigated by the police and sending them to trial. If anything is lacking in the process of sending a case to trial, they request supplementary investigations from the police. So what is good for the general public in this process? The police focus on investigations, incorporating advanced investigative techniques and forensic science. And for major crimes such as economy, corruption, drugs, and cybercrime, a specialized investigative agency is established. That is the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency. That is the Korean version of the FBI. You can think of it as a Korean-style FBI being created in South Korea through this opportunity. Prosecutors shed the wrongful areas they previously engaged in, while the Korean FBI carries out the investigations prosecutors used to handle.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Let me ask one more question. Despite voices arguing that at least some direct supplementary investigation power should remain—to serve as a mutual buffer, like in the recent Jang Yun-gi case where prosecutors uncovered what police tried to conceal—what was the rationale for ultimately abolishing even the direct supplementary investigation authority?

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: The broad framework divides roles: prosecutors handle indictment, warrant requests, and maintaining prosecution, while investigation is handled by the police and the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency. Although keeping a small portion of supplementary investigation authority might seem beneficial, we divided the framework fundamentally. Instead of direct supplementary investigation, the advantages it offered—and the issues that arose in cases like the Jang Yun-gi case—were addressed through the right to request supplementary investigations. Previously, prosecutors had their own investigators conduct the investigation. Now, instead of doing that, they instruct a separate agency, the police, to conduct it. That is called the right to request supplementary investigation. When someone conducts an investigation, they naturally want to indict and push greedily. So we severed that link: prosecutors check if the investigation was conducted well, and if so, they submit requests for supplementary investigation to send the case to trial. Concerns in cases like the Jang Yun-gi case involved things like concealing zip ties, right? In such cases where police might be involved or implicated in the crime, that officer can be replaced or disciplined, or the case can be transferred to the newly created agency—the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency. That is how we complemented the system.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: What you brought today is titled "Much Improved Criminal Procedure Act."

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: That's right.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Please explain it.

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: It is a much improved Criminal Procedure Act. People might worry, 'What if prosecutors no longer investigate under this revised law?' Do not worry. Instead of prosecutors conducting investigations, a much more specialized agency, the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, has been established. 'What if prosecutors do not conduct supplementary investigations?' Do not worry. They can request supplementary investigations from the police. As you mentioned, 'What if the police conceal something at the scene?' Officers will wear body cameras to record video of scenes, and all of this will be stored in the state-of-the-art criminal justice information system called KICS, complete with chronological video recordings. People also raise concerns that cases will keep being passed back and forth to the police. To prevent 'ping-ponging' and investigation delays, prosecutors hold onto the case number. They request supplementary investigations from the police, receive the results, and proceed quickly, leaving no room for passing responsibility back and forth. The best improvement is embedding victims' rights. If a victim suffers and police fail to investigate their evidence for six months, the victim can file an objection. This allows the police officer to be replaced. Or if there are doubts about impartiality, the victim can request a transfer to the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency. Additionally, like the victim of the Busan roundhouse kick assault case who didn't know what was happening during the trial or investigation, victims will now be able to inspect and copy case records when necessary to verify whether an investigation was properly conducted or whether further issues should be raised. It is a much improved Criminal Procedure Act.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Understood. Now let's address the concerns. Since you have explained the positive aspects, what about the concerns being raised by opposition parties?

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: Right.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Critics say police authority could become overly concentrated and too strong. Also, reporter Huh Min mentioned a recent exclusive article by Munhwa Ilbo stating that direct investigative authority is being granted even to officials with the rank of Senior Superintendent General or higher. Critics argue this leaves room for political power to interfere in investigations and ask why this was quietly inserted without a press briefing.

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: It was not quietly inserted. Currently, investigations are handled by officers with the rank of Superintendent General or below, raising concerns that investigative capability could be lacking. Therefore, the reform proposal suggests that officers holding the rank of Inspector or higher handle actual investigations, which would enhance the quality of investigations. Now, what rank did you mention earlier?

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Senior Superintendent General.

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: Senior Superintendent Generals will not conduct direct investigations themselves. Investigations are conducted exclusively by the National Investigation Headquarters. Senior Superintendent Generals stationed at the National Investigation Headquarters handle investigations there, while the Head of the National Investigation Headquarters holds the rank of Chief Superintendent General. This measure allows leadership to check whether investigations are conducted properly from top to bottom, and it is a matter for further discussion.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Currently, there is the National Investigation Headquarters within the police, and there is the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency. The National Investigation Headquarters can handle all investigations, correct?

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: That is correct.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: And the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency handles six major crime categories?

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: Seven major crime categories.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Seven major crime categories, including drugs.

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: You can think of corruption, economy, defense industry, drugs, plus cybercrime. In addition, two more categories are insurrection and treason, as well as crimes involving police officers or prosecutors. The Serious Crimes Investigation Agency is structured to investigate these areas.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Doesn't that overlap with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO)?

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: The CIO handles high-ranking officials abusing their authority in the performance of their duties. But if a prosecutor or judge commits misconduct off duty, such as at a karaoke room, those crimes can be investigated by the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency or the police. However, priority lies with the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency. So you don't need to worry—an institution called the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency has been created. Information sessions on the agency start today, and nationwide organization offices will be established.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: People say revising all related laws will take a considerable amount of time. Even simple name changes throughout the law books need to be updated now.

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: That's right. Some say this Criminal Procedure Act was crafted at lightning speed.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Justice Minister Jung Seong-ho said that.

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: To explain here, I became the Chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee on July 1. As you mentioned, there are about 200 subordinate laws attached to this legislation.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: 200 laws.

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: Because we have to remove references to prosecutorial investigative powers and adjust the entire system. Drafting Presidential Decrees, Ministerial Rules, and related statutes takes at least six months. But I started on July 1. So what choice did we have? We had no option but to move quickly. And moving quickly didn't mean doing it carelessly. Our subcommittee met nine times. In just one month, the subcommittee met nine times—about twice a week—and in between, we held six plenary sessions. We met police officers, prosecutors, lawyers, victim support groups, and civic organizations. We spent an enormous amount of time meeting stakeholders. So although it moved fast, it was created after sufficient deliberation. Importantly regarding attached statutes, 15 related laws were updated via addenda when amending the Criminal Procedure Act, and around 157 laws will be handled together through an omnibus bill to settle them at once.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Will everything be finalized during this year's regular parliamentary session before the October 2 launch of the Public Prosecution Office and the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency?

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: Yes, we will finish everything before then. Key items must be completed even earlier, because passing the law itself isn't enough. Presidential Decrees, Ministry of the Interior and Safety rules, Public Prosecution Office rules, and Ministry of Justice rules must all be prepared together.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: During this process, did Justice Minister Jung Seong-ho and Judiciary Committee Chair Seo Young-kyo communicate closely, or was there no communication?

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: We communicated closely.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: In that close communication, was there a large difference of opinion, some difference, or little difference?

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: There was no difference of opinion. Minister Jung Seong-ho never advocated maintaining direct prosecutorial supplementary investigation authority. He did, however, speak about mandatory referral of all cases (jeongeon songchi) to protect vulnerable groups and prevent any victims from being overlooked. We incorporated that into the bill.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Is that included? For instance, crimes against women?

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: While not defined as blanket mandatory referral across the board, it covers sexual violence, stalking, crimes against people with disabilities, and elder abuse.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Crimes against vulnerable social groups.

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: Domestic violence and child abuse are already subject to mandatory referral. Mandatory referral for crimes against vulnerable groups will be enacted through individual laws during the upcoming September regular session. Cases with recommendations for indictment will be referred to prosecutors as they are now. In non-referral cases, if a victim requests referral through an objection process, the case gets referred. For remaining cases that are not referred, all case records are still transmitted. That way, if a prosecutor reviews them and notices something missed, they can demand a re-investigation. Since prosecutors might overlook non-referred cases, we added provisions compelling them to review these files and verify that they have done so.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: The Supreme Prosecutors' Office / Prosecution Service as we know it will be abolished, right?

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: The Prosecution Service disappears and the Public Prosecution Office is created.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Right. Will prosecutors move to the Public Prosecution Office or the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency? Until now, we thought of prosecutors as investigators. But now prosecutors cannot investigate. Will current prosecutors move to the Public Prosecution Office as trial prosecutors, or will they join the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency as investigators?

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: Exactly.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Reports suggest the general atmosphere among prosecutors is that they don't want to go to the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency. Is that accurate?

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: Strictly speaking, prosecutors have not been primarily an investigative body; police handled most investigations. Prosecutors used to investigate corruption, economy, public officials, elections, defense industry, and major disasters. But when the previous law retained corruption and economy and added the word 'etc.', former Minister Han Dong-hoon used that to allow prosecutors to investigate all of those areas again.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Via Presidential Decree.

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: It was a case of executive decree wagging the statutory dog. Prosecutors don't conduct direct investigations as their primary function; indictment is the core duty. Deciding whether to indict based on police investigations, sending cases to trial, and maintaining prosecution in court are the main duties of prosecutors. If an investigation seems insufficient, they request supplementary investigation; if an investigation seems flawed, they request officer replacement. That role in indictment is paramount. If prosecutors prefer investigative work, they can move to the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency with investigators to focus on investigations. While many are deliberating whether to make the move, compensation will not be reduced if they transfer.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Will rank and status be maintained similarly?

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: Compensation remains identical. We are considering initial incentives as well. I received briefings yesterday alongside the Public Administration and Security Committee. Good compensation is needed to attract talent. So we plan to make conditions attractive, and I encourage them to join the investigative side. However, investigation and indictment are now strictly separated. Whoever investigates naturally wants to indict and rarely lets go, even if flaws exist. We are eliminating that structure. This will allow prosecutors to carry out their duties more effectively. Capable prosecutors and police officers will be recognized and promoted.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Will investigations into so-called 'living power,' corruption, and irregularities be handled by the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency?

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: Yes, the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, judicial police, and the CIO will handle them. However, if an investigation is flawed, prosecutors must refrain from indicting. That is why investigation and indictment are separated.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Nevertheless, concerns were raised even within the Democratic Party.

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: We addressed all of those concerns, turning hesitation into support, leading to a unanimous vote when adopting it as the party platform.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: The public will surely evaluate this Criminal Procedure Act amendment in the next general or presidential election. As Judiciary Committee Chair, do you feel confident about that evaluation?

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: One must never be arrogant. But as we drafted this much improved Criminal Procedure Act, we addressed gaps that were missing before. If a victim is suffering and requests further investigation, but police ignore them, the victim can boldly request officer replacement. If a case is referred to a prosecutor and the police refuse prosecutor directives without valid cause, prosecutors can request disciplinary action. We included all these measures. Thus, victim protection is strengthened, criminals are pursued to the end, no innocent person is wrongly targeted, and prosecutors cannot wield power as henchmen of political power.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Understood. We will keep your remarks in mind, Chair Seo, and if outcomes differ from what was discussed today, we will invite you back to speak with us again.

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: If that happens, we will complement and refine it further. We must always listen to public voices. Continuous refinement is necessary.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Indeed.

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: But right now, we have put forward our absolute best effort. I am the person who authored 'Taewan's Law,' which abolished the statute of limitations for murder. Moved by the tragic story of a young child, where murderers could walk free after 15 years, I ensured they would be pursued to the end. I also authored the 'Goo Ha-ra Law,' which deprives parents who abandoned child-rearing duties of inheritance rights. Lawmakers exist to give voice to the vulnerable. As Judiciary Committee Chair, I will continue to protect victims and champion the vulnerable.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: And this Criminal Procedure Act amendment was aimed at protecting those vulnerable groups.

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: That is correct.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: You have highlighted that direction of reform. Thank you for speaking with us today.

▶ Seo Young-kyo / Chair of National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee: Thank you.

※ For details, please check the video.

※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.