Prosecution Requested Over 60,000 Supplemental Investigations to Police in First Half of This Year

The number of cases sent back by the prosecution to the police with requests for supplemental investigations exceeded 60,000 during the first half of this year.

According to data submitted by the National Police Agency to Representative Kim Jae-seop of the People Power Party, the prosecution requested supplemental investigations for 65,913 cases between January and June of this year.

The number of supplemental investigation requests reached 110,623 last year, marking the highest annual figure on record.

Compared to 2021, the first year the system was implemented, this figure represents an increase of approximately 27% over four years.

The number of cases registered as unsolved by the police from January to June of this year also surpassed 100,000.

The number of unsolved cases, which stood at 135,431 in 2018, increased by more than 60% to 220,241 last year.

The Democratic Party and other opposition parties are holding meetings of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee at the National Assembly to review and pass an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act, which centers on the complete abolition of the prosecution's authority to request supplemental investigations.

If the bill is passed, the prosecution would be unable to conduct direct investigations and would only be permitted to request supplemental investigations from the police.

The People Power Party is opposing the abolition of the supplemental investigation authority, refusing to participate in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's review of the bill, and has separately proposed an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act that would maintain the prosecution's authority to request such investigations.

Representative Kim Jae-seop argued, "With the number of cases in which the prosecution requests supplemental investigations from the police rising, and the number of unsolved police cases also on an upward trend, it only reveals that the Democratic Party lacks justification for pushing the bill to abolish the authority for supplemental investigations."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.