Prosecutor rejection rate for police arrest warrant requests exceeds 30% for first time in South Korea

SEOUL, Oct. 4 (Yonhap) -- The proportion of arrest warrants filed by police that were rejected by prosecutors surpassed 30 percent for the first time this year, data showed Sunday.

According to the Public Prosecution Service (PPS), police filed for a total of 26,961 requests for arrest warrants between January and August this year. Of them, 9,186, or 34.1 percent, were rejected by prosecutors.

It marked the first time the rejection rate for arrest warrant requests exceeded 30 percent.

The rejection rate has trended upward since reaching 22.8 percent in 2021, rising to 26.8 percent in 2025.

Police investigators have complained that prosecutors have become reluctant to seek warrants requested by them amid a major overhaul of the prosecution, under which prosecutors were stripped of their investigative powers.

Last Friday, South Korea abolished the prosecution office for the first time after 78 years and launched two new agencies separating investigative and indictment powers amid long-standing criticism that the prosecution had wielded excessive authority.

The data also showed that prosecutors' rejection rate for police requests for search and seizure warrants stood at 19.1 percent during the cited period, sharply higher than the 10.7-13.7 percent range recorded between 2021 and 2025.