SEOUL, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) — South Korea officially abolished the state prosecution service Friday, ending its 78-year history since its establishment in 1948, while launching new agencies separately in charge of investigation and prosecution.
Under the revised acts, the newly launched public prosecution office will operate under the justice ministry, focusing entirely on indictments and maintaining public prosecution.
The newly established serious crimes investigation agency will be run under the interior ministry and be tasked with directly investigating seven major crime categories and conducting supplementary investigations for crimes targeting vulnerable groups.
Most general criminal investigations will be handled by the police.
Although the prosecution service was disbanded as an institution, the titles of “prosecutor” and “prosecutor general” will remain intact.
Yonhap news agency pointed out that the major overhaul of the criminal justice system stemmed from longstanding domestic criticism over the excessive concentration of power within the prosecution, which critics said led to abusive investigations and indictments.
For a long time, whenever a transition of power occurred in South Korea, the prosecution was consistently plagued by controversies over “targeted investigations” and “politically motivated prosecutions.” ■