The government is finalizing the organization and personnel structure of the new Serious Crimes Investigation Agency (SCIA) ahead of its launch in October. The agency will have a total staff of 2,874, with prosecutors transferring to the SCIA appointed as investigators at levels 1 to 4 based on their positions and experience.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety's SCIA Establishment Preparation Team announced on August 4 that it has prepared draft regulations for the 'Serious Crimes Investigation Agency and its affiliated organizations' and the 'SCIA Investigator Appointment Regulations.' These drafts will be open for public comment from August 5 to 10.
The SCIA will consist of a headquarters in Seoul and six regional offices in Seoul, Suwon, Daejeon, Daegu, Busan, and Gwangju. The headquarters will be responsible for establishing investigation policies, overseeing regional offices, and implementing human rights protection policies, while the regional offices will directly investigate serious crimes within their jurisdictions.
The regional offices will be established according to the jurisdiction of high courts, with the Seoul office covering Seoul, Incheon, northern Gyeonggi, and Gangwon; the Suwon office covering southern Gyeonggi; the Daejeon office covering Daejeon, Sejong, Chungnam, and Chungbuk; the Daegu office covering Daegu and Gyeongbuk; the Busan office covering Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam; and the Gwangju office covering Gwangju, Jeonnam, Jeonbuk, and Jeju.
The SCIA's total staff will include 2,567 investigators (89.3%) and 307 administrative staff (10.7%). The headquarters will consist of 396 personnel, including the chief and deputy chief, eight divisions, and 24 sections. The regional offices will have six chiefs, eight deputy chiefs, 22 divisions, and 110 sections, totaling 2,478 personnel.
Notably, the SCIA is designed to focus on seven major crimes, including corruption, economic crimes, defense business crimes, drug offenses, insurrection, foreign exchange crimes, and cybercrime. The Seoul office will receive the largest allocation of 1,089 personnel due to the concentration of serious crime cases and its extensive jurisdiction, with three deputy chiefs overseeing various specialized investigation units.
Additionally, five joint investigation divisions will be established to continue the functions of specialized joint investigation units currently operating under the prosecution. The Seoul office will have joint investigation divisions for voice phishing, financial crimes, and virtual asset crimes, while the Suwon office will have a drug joint investigation division, and the Daejeon office will have a national finance crime joint investigation division.
Furthermore, special 'investigation divisions' and 'investigation teams' will be set up at the headquarters and regional offices to conduct supplementary investigations on cases handled by other investigative agencies at the request of prosecutors.
Prosecutors and investigative officers from the prosecution service who wish to transfer to the SCIA can do so without a separate examination under special provisions that will be in effect until April 30 of next year. When prosecutors move to the SCIA, they will lose their status as prosecutors and become SCIA investigators, a specific public service position. For those with different rank systems, they will be appointed to corresponding investigator ranks based on their legal experience and previous positions at the time of the SCIA's establishment. For example, district chief prosecutors will be appointed as level 1 investigators, deputy and senior prosecutors as level 2, those with over 10 years of legal experience as level 3, and those with less than 10 years as level 4.
External professionals such as police officers, lawyers, and accountants will be recruited through competitive hiring processes. Outstanding investigators will be given opportunities for special promotions, with a target of ensuring that more than 30% of level 6 and below investigators receive special promotions. Investigators at level 5 and below will undergo both performance evaluations and promotion examinations, while poorly performing managers at level 3 and above may be dismissed through eligibility reviews.
Appointment authority for investigators will be divided among the President, the Minister of the Interior and Safety, and the SCIA chief based on rank. The President will appoint levels 1 and 2, while the Minister of the Interior and Safety will appoint levels 3 to 5. The SCIA chief will have the authority to recommend appointments for levels 1 to 5, transfer authority for level 5, and appointment authority for level 6 and below.
Kim Min-jae, head of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, stated, “The launch of the SCIA is a significant step in realizing the separation of investigation and prosecution within the prosecution system, which is a key aspect of judicial reform. We will meticulously design the SCIA's structure and appointment regulations to establish it as a trusted professional investigative agency and fulfill its fundamental duty of protecting the rights and interests of the public.”
* This article has been translated by AI.
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