South Korea
Criminal investigations in South Korea
Since 2021 the police lead most investigations; prosecutors retain the warrant request, a supplementary role, and control of indictment — a balance the 2025 restructuring will shift again.
Facts on this page were checked against their sources on .
The direction of criminal investigation in South Korea has been in transition. Since the 2020–2021 reform, the police — through the National Investigation Headquarters — lead and conduct most primary investigations, with authority to refer or close cases, while prosecutors retain a supplementary and completing role and control over indictment. Warrants still require a prosecutor's request to the judge (Constitution, Article 12).
The same idea, explained generally
- What is a criminal investigation?
A criminal investigation is a legally authorised process for establishing whether an offence occurred and gathering evidence that can be tested in court. This guide explains its structure, safeguards, and known failure modes.
- What is due process?
Due process is the requirement that the state follow fair, established procedures before it takes action against a person. This guide explains what it typically includes and how it differs between systems.
Sources
Sources
Constitution of the Republic of Korea (1948, wholly revised 1987) — English translation
Comparative Constitutions Project (Constitute) · Legislation · 1987 · link verified 2026-07-27
The Comparative Constitutions Project (Constitute) English translation of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea (originally 1948, wholly revised in the ninth amendment of 1987, in force from 25 February 1988), read directly and re-confirmed. An UNOFFICIAL translation; the Korean text is authoritative. Supports Art. 3 (the territory is the Korean peninsula and its adjacent islands — a single indivisible unitary state); Art. 12 (warrants issued by a judge "upon the request of a prosecutor"); Art. 101 (judicial power vested in courts); Art. 103 ("Judges shall rule independently according to their conscience and in conformity with the Constitution and law"); Art. 106 (tenure — removal only by impeachment or criminal punishment); Art. 107 (a court doubting a statute's constitutionality refers the question to the Constitutional Court — concentrated review); Arts. 111–113 (the Constitutional Court's jurisdiction, nine adjudicators, and the six-vote requirement); and Arts. 117–118 (local self-government limited to local administrative/welfare matters, not justice).
Korea Herald — Cabinet approves bill to dismantle the Prosecution Service by October 2026
The Korea Herald · Journalism · 2025-09-30 · link verified 2026-07-27
Korea Herald reporting, read directly and independently re-fetched in verification, on the enacted 2025 restructuring of the prosecution. Cited, by attribution and with dates, that the Cabinet approved on 30 September 2025 an amendment to the Government Organization Act splitting the Prosecution Service's powers into an investigative agency under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and a separate indictment office within the Ministry of Justice; that the Supreme Prosecutors' Office would be abolished on 1 October 2026 after a one-year grace period, with the new agencies beginning the following day; and that this ends the service "some 78 years after its establishment". Used to record the reform neutrally as enacted-but-not-yet-effective; the primary gazette and implementing statutes were not fetchable (the Library of Congress Global Legal Monitor page was bot-walled).