(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Seungyeon Lee = The Serious Crimes Investigation Agency (Serious Crimes Investigation Agency) gave up its first holiday immediately after its launch and began strengthening the internal structure of the organization.
According to the legal community on the 4th, the Central Investigation Agency is speeding up preparations to begin a full-scale investigation by sending some executives and employees to work.
Officials who have come to work are reorganizing administrative and practical procedures, such as establishing office divisions and manuals for each bureau and department.
It is reported that work processing methods, such as how case records will be manually entered and processed, are being specified as work must continue with only certain functions of the Criminal Justice Information System (KICS) for a while.
Since it was launched with about 1,900 employees, which is only 66% of the 2,874 capacity of the Heavy Water Administration, it appears that some employees are continuing to work even on holidays in order to quickly establish the organization.
However, it appears that the case records have not yet been transferred from the Public Prosecution Office.
The Public Prosecution Office, which gave up its direct investigative authority on the 2nd, can continue investigations for up to 90 days in cases that are unavoidable due to their nature or where the statute of limitations is approaching.
It is reported that the Public Prosecution Office plans to use the additional investigation deadline to complete the ongoing investigation into the cognitive case as much as possible.
The Public Prosecutor's Office plans to investigate cases of violations of the Public Official Election Act related to the June 3 local elections as the statute of limitations (6 months) is about to expire.
Even in the case of transferred cases, the Public Prosecution Office plans to sequentially decide whether to indict, not indict, or request a supplementary investigation as the prosecutor examines the records.
An official from the Public Prosecution Service explains that even if a supplementary investigation is requested at this time, most cases will return to existing investigative agencies such as the police or special judicial police officers.
Accordingly, attention is focused on which case the Central Investigation Agency will select as the 'No. 1 investigation'.
In the legal world, there is an interpretation that the meaning of the Central Investigation Agency's 'No. 1 investigation' case should be viewed differently from the 'No. 1 investigation' of the High-ranking Public Officials Crime Investigation Office (Corruption Investigation Office).
In May 2021, the Corruption Investigation Office designated former Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon's suspicion of unfair special hiring of dismissed teachers as the 'first investigation' case.
This is a case booked by the Board of Audit and Inspection requesting the transfer of a case reported to the police.
However, unlike the Corruption Investigation Office, which is an organization launched with a new role as an organization dedicated to investigating high-ranking public officials, and which has a structure of independently indicting suspects, the Central Investigation Agency has a different starting point in that it takes over some of the roles played by the existing prosecutors.
Accordingly, there is a prediction that the Central Investigation Agency's 'No. 1 investigation' will be named when it is a compulsory investigation or summons of a suspect rather than an indictment.
There are some speculations that the organization will remain in turmoil without a full-scale investigation until the chief's inauguration, but the Central Investigation Agency's position is that there will be no difficulty in starting the investigation as Deputy Director Jeon Jong-min is acting as acting director.
An official from the Central Investigation Agency explained, “As the Deputy Director is acting in charge of his duties and the local office has most of the organization in place, an investigation is possible even before the Director takes office.”
On the 2nd, the Heavy Water Administration announced its launch by holding an opening ceremony at Rene Square in Jung-gu, Seoul, where the main office and Seoul Metropolitan Government are located.
The opening ceremony of the Regional Heavy Water and Water Administration is scheduled to be held next week.
