Police Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun has expressed concerns over the justice ministry’s revision of enforcement decrees aimed at expanding the scope of the prosecution’s investigative authority.
During a meeting with reporters he convened on Monday, Yoon said the revision could damage the original intention with which related laws were enacted.
He said he will convey the concern to the justice ministry later in the day as part of a process in which the ministry is collecting opinions over the move.
Led by justice minister Han Dong-hoon, who is a close aide to prosecutor general-turned-president Yoon Suk Yeol, the revision has sparked concerns that it may cancel out the power balancing between the two legal enforcement agencies pursued through prosecution reforms, under which the police have been gradually taking over the prosecution’s investigative power.
The previous Moon Jae-in administration and the then-ruling Democratic Party had earlier revised laws limiting prosecutors’ direct investigations to corruption and economic crimes from September.
However, the ministry’s amendment to the enforcement decrees will allow prosecutors to investigate some crimes related to public officials and elections by classifying crimes involving abuse of power or monetary campaign activities as corruption.
Prosecutorial probes will also be allowed for crimes involving narcotics, organized crime and phishing scams by defining them as infractions relating to the economy.
Source: KBS World Radio