South Korea's police will designate and deploy 24 dedicated liaison officers across metropolitan and regional prosecution offices nationwide in preparation for the revised Criminal Procedure Act taking effect. The measure is intended to reduce confusion between investigative agencies that can arise when prosecutors request supplementary or renewed investigations, and to support smoother communication between frontline investigation teams and the prosecutors handling their cases.
According to the National Police Agency on the 21st, police plan to designate 24 personnel from the investigation cooperation units under the investigation review divisions of metropolitan and provincial police agencies as dedicated liaison staff for the prosecution offices. The officers will correspond to six metropolitan prosecution offices and 18 regional prosecution offices.
Liaison officers will support communication between the two sides and manage relevant cases when frontline police investigation teams need to consult or coordinate with the prosecutor handling an ongoing case. Police plan to distribute the liaison officers' contact information to district police stations so that field investigation teams can reach them when needed.
With the prosecution offices not yet open, however, detailed discussions are reportedly continuing over how to operate the liaison officers and consultative bodies.
Police say they will discuss outstanding issues going forward, while preparing for an increase in supplementary investigation requests and delays in case processing through their own internal management system for matters that are not agreed upon.
The cooperation framework will operate alongside internal police units dedicated to managing cases subject to prosecutors' requests. An investigation review unit will be created at the National Office of Investigation, while investigation review divisions and investigation cooperation units will be introduced at metropolitan and provincial police agencies.
Police earlier said they would elevate investigation review units at police agencies nationwide into investigation review divisions headed by senior superintendents, with investigation cooperation units established under them. The investigation cooperation units are tasked exclusively with managing and supporting compliance with prosecutors' requests, including requests for supplementary investigation, renewed investigation and corrective action. By region, Seoul has the most staff with 27, followed by Gyeonggi South with 19, Busan with 12, Incheon with nine and South Gyeongsang Province with eight. Staff will be assigned by district or police station to closely manage cases from the receipt of a prosecutor's request through notification of compliance, while also reviewing whether the direction and outcome of investigations are appropriate.
