Park Cheol-woo, head of the Seoul Public Prosecution Service, said, “The name of the prosecution and the abolition of the supplementary investigation are very confusing.”

The first government audit since the launch of the Public Prosecution Service... “It is best for the prosecution’s original function.”

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Seungyeon Lee = Park Cheol-woo, head of the Seoul Central District Public Prosecution Office, said, “I cannot help but feel confused” about the conversion of the Prosecutor’s Office into the Public Prosecution Office.

Commissioner Park responded as follows to a question from Rep. Kwak Gyu-taek of the People's Power Party asking about his thoughts on the abolition of the prosecution during the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit of the Seoul Metropolitan Public Prosecution Office and its affiliated local public prosecution offices on the 19th.

He said, "Not only has the function of directly eradicating great evil disappeared, but the supplementary investigative function of looking at the results of the primary investigation, such as the police, once more and examining whether there are any shortcomings for the public has also disappeared. Furthermore, it is very confusing that the name has even been changed to the Office of Public Prosecution."

Commissioner Park went on to say, “However, there is a natural function that the prosecution must perform for the people,” adding, “For that purpose, I will not dwell on it forever and will do my best.”

Rep. Kwak said that if there was discussion about the fairness and legality of the investigation in the previous audit of the Public Prosecutor's Office, it is unlikely that there will be any such discussion in the future audit of government affairs.

However, when Kim Yong-min, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, asked about the previous statement, "Does this mean that the Serious Crimes Investigation Office (Severe Crimes Investigation Office) will not be able to carry out the prosecution's function of eradicating big evils?" Commissioner Park explained, "It means that the Public Prosecution Service, which inherited the Public Prosecutors' Office, will not be able to do so, but it does not mean that such a function has disappeared from the country."

Commissioner Park pointed out that the main tasks of the Seoul Central District Public Prosecution Office on this day include the investigation of collusion cases in the sugar, flour, and oil refining industries, the investigation of the multi-victim crime intensive investigation team, and the investigation of sexual violence crimes committed by saekseong workers at facilities for the disabled.

On the 2nd, according to the revised Criminal Procedure Act, the Prosecutor's Office was abolished after 78 years. The Public Prosecution Office, which replaces the Prosecutor's Office, gave up its direct investigation and supplementary investigation functions and took on only the function of filing and maintaining indictments.