Budget function of Finance Ministry to be carved out for new agency under PM's office
South Korea on Sunday confirmed plans to dissolve the Prosecutors' Office next year, dividing its powers between two new agencies as part of President Lee Jae Myung’s broader agenda for prosecution reform and a sweeping government overhaul.
“There have been longstanding concerns over unchecked prosecutorial power and the erosion of fairness. In response, we have decided to abolish the Prosecutors' Office and (divide its authority),” Rep. Han Jeoung-ae, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s policy committee chief, said in a briefing Sunday.
The announcement came as a result of a high-level meeting among the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, the government and the presidential office held at the prime minister’s official residence in Samcheong-dong, central Seoul, to make final adjustments to the proposed amendment to the Government Organization Act.
The amendment focuses on reforms to separate the prosecution's investigation and indictment functions — including the creation of the Office of Public Prosecution and a new investigative agency for serious crimes. The ruling party plans to put the revision to a vote at the National Assembly plenary session scheduled for Sept. 25.
The reform proposal seeks to separate the powers of investigation and prosecution by transferring investigative authority to the new independent investigative agency under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, while a newly created prosecution office would handle indictments under the Ministry of Justice.
Other elements of the amendment go beyond the prosecution overhaul.
Under the plan, responsibility for energy policy would be shifted from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to the Environment Ministry, which would be restructured into a new Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment. The Korea Communications Commission would be dissolved, with its broadcasting functions consolidated into a new Broadcasting, Media and Communications Commission.
In a bid to effectively manage economic policies, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance would be renamed the Ministry of Finance and Economy, continuing to oversee taxation, economic, financial and treasury policies, while budget and fiscal functions would be handled separately by a newly created Planning and Budget Office under the Prime Minister’s Office.
The plan would also shut down and split the Financial Services Commission -- 17 years after the country’s top financial regulator was launched in 2008 -- and recast it as the Financial Supervisory Commission with a narrower mandate focused on market oversight.
In a bid to bolster the consumer safety net, the amendment proposes to elevate the financial consumer protection bureau — now housed within the Financial Supervisory Service — into a standalone agency.
In South Korea, the Prosecutors’ Office has wielded authority both to investigate crimes and to indict suspects since 1978. Critics, including President Lee and his Democratic Party, argue that this dual role has given the Prosecutors’ Office excessive influence, out of step with practices in other democracies.
Opening the trilateral meeting, Democratic Party Chair and Rep. Jung Chung-rae said that the plan has been discussed for months, and they would hold in-depth discussions to ensure that the prosecution reform plan produces the most efficient outcome.
The government’s proposal to separate investigation from indictment is being presented as an effort to rebalance the justice system and curb potential abuse of power. The debate, however, is not new. For more than a decade, progressive administrations — first under Moon Jae-in and now under Lee — have sought to rein in prosecutorial dominance, while conservatives have pushed back, warning that such reforms could undermine law enforcement.
Prime Minister Kim Min-seok also pledged in the same meeting that the amendment, alongside a comprehensive labor safety plan and a natural disaster response plan, will be “carried forward as appropriate policies and legislation in the Assembly session, so the public can feel reassured.”
mkjung@heraldcorp.com
