With the launch of the prosecution office and the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency about two months away, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) has voiced the need to establish clear regulations regarding additional investigations.

During a regular briefing today (July 28), the CIO announced, "We have submitted our opinions on the amendment to the Act on the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly."

The CIO stated that the Act should clearly stipulate investigative procedures, such as emergency arrest and detention periods under the Criminal Procedure Act, review of the legality of arrest and detention, and attendance requests, to minimize room for interpretive disputes.

In particular, the agency pointed out that it is systemically inappropriate for a prosecutor from the prosecution office to demand supplementary investigations from a CIO prosecutor, and therefore an "additional investigation request procedure" should be stipulated in the CIO Act.

Under this proposed method, if a prosecutor from the prosecution office who receives a request for indictment from the CIO determines that an additional investigation is necessary, they would send the case back to the CIO through an additional investigation request procedure.

Once the prosecution prosecutor sends an additional investigation request form and evidence-related documents to the CIO, a CIO prosecutor would then conduct the additional investigation.

The CIO explained that the term "request for supplementary investigation" is used between prosecutors and judicial police officers, making it systemically unsuitable for use between prosecutors of the prosecution office and CIO prosecutors.

The CIO also announced that it submitted an opinion to the Office for Government Policy Coordination stating that senior officials of grade 3 or higher at the prosecution office should be included in the scope of high-ranking public officials under the CIO Act.

In addition, the agency conveyed its stance that separate treatment regulations must be established for CIO investigators, as the CIO Act currently stipulates that their treatment should be comparable to that of public officials in prosecutorial services.

The CIO added that the six-year term limit currently imposed on CIO investigators should be abolished to align with other investigative agencies that do not restrict terms.

(Photo provided by the CIO, Yonhap News)