South Korea implements judicial reform and the prosecutor's office enters history. The Major Crime Investigation Department and the Public Prosecution Department take over the power of investigation and prosecution.

South Korea has implemented major judicial reforms. The Prosecutor's Office, which was established 78 years ago, officially entered history on the 2nd. The investigation and prosecution powers originally concentrated on the prosecutor's office were separated and were taken over by the newly established Major Crime Investigation Department (Research Office) and the Public Prosecution Department respectively. However, the abolition of supplementary investigative powers, a surge in police caseloads and a lack of preparation for new agencies have also raised concerns about delays in judicial proceedings.

According to foreign media reports, in accordance with the revised Criminal Procedure Law and other laws, most criminal cases are investigated by the police. The Major Crime Investigation Department (Research Department) under the Ministry of Administrative and Security is responsible for major cases such as political corruption, economic and drug crimes; the Public Prosecution Office under the Ministry of Justice is responsible for prosecuting, maintaining public prosecutions, and executing penalties based on the investigation results. In the past, people could file complaints or reports to the prosecutor's office, but in the future they can only file complaints or reports to the police or the Office of Criminal Investigation.

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The Lee Jae-myung government believes that the prosecutorial agency used to have both investigative and prosecutorial powers at the same time, which resulted in excessive expansion of its power. It has been repeatedly criticized for "political prosecution" and targeting specific targets for investigation, so it promotes the separation of the two powers.

However, although the Public Prosecution Office can request the police or the Office of Criminal Investigation to conduct a new or supplementary investigation, it does not have the authority to conduct the investigation itself. The legal profession is worried that if the investigative agencies handle the case sloppily or collect insufficient evidence, there may be a lack of effective checks and balances, which will also affect the ability of the Public Prosecution Office to prove crimes in court. If various agencies pass the buck, a "case ping-pong" may occur.

With the simultaneous expansion of their authority and caseload, the police, who are responsible for most of the investigation work, have been described by Korean media as "dinosaur police." The average annual number of cases received by each investigator has increased from about 110 in 2023 to 133 last year. In the future, the prosecutor's office will still have to take on a large number of unsolved cases. Although the police have deployed about 4,000 people for support, most of them lack experience in handling cases, and their ability to investigate complex economic and technological crimes has also been questioned.

In addition, there were only about 1,900 people in the Heavy Search Department when it was established, only 66% of the statutory number of 2,874 people, and there were no detention rooms or detention centers in the office building. The South Korean government stated that it will complete personnel arrangements as soon as possible to help the two new agencies operate stably.