A recent poll shows that more than 60% of South Koreans believe prosecutors should retain supplementary investigation powers, following the Cabinet's approval of a bill to abolish these powers entirely on August 4.
According to a survey conducted by Hankyoreh Research from August 1 to 3, which sampled 1,000 adults aged 18 and older, 62.5% of respondents indicated that they believe supplementary investigation powers are necessary. In contrast, 31.8% said they are not needed, while 5.8% were unsure.
Support for the necessity of supplementary investigation powers crossed party lines, with 53.8% of supporters of the Democratic Party and 73.0% of supporters of the People Power Party agreeing on the need for these powers. Among those who felt they were unnecessary, 39.5% identified as Democratic Party supporters, while 22.4% were from the People Power Party.
When broken down by political ideology, 52.0% of progressives and 69.9% of conservatives agreed on the need for supplementary investigation powers. Notably, 70.5% of moderates also expressed support.
However, opinions were nearly split regarding trust in the prosecution as an investigative body. The survey found that 48.1% of respondents trust the prosecution, while 48.4% do not, a difference of just 0.3 percentage points. In comparison, trust in the police, who will gain full investigative authority under the new criminal procedure law, stood at 41.4%, with 55.2% indicating they do not trust the police.
On July 31, the National Assembly, led by the ruling party, passed a bill to completely abolish the prosecution's investigative powers. This bill was also approved by the Cabinet during a meeting chaired by President Lee Jae-myung the following day. As a result, the prosecution will be restructured into the Public Prosecution Service and the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency in October, with prosecutors prohibited from conducting any investigations and limited to handling prosecutions.
The survey utilized a random digit dialing (RDD) method, with 3.6% of responses collected via landline interviews and 96.4% through a mobile automated response system (ARS). For more details, please refer to the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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