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Application rate lower among rank-and-file prosecutors with less than 10 years of experience
“An inverted-pyramid structure lacking the mid-career investigators needed to work through case files overnight”
Additional special appointments planned for unfilled positions, including prosecutors from the Prosecution Office

With the launch of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency (SCIA) approaching, applications for special appointments from prosecutors, investigators and other prosecution personnel have closed. More than 80% of the agency’s total staffing quota is reportedly represented by prosecution employees who applied for positions, while around 100 prosecutors — who are expected to play a central role in major investigations — are said to have applied.

According to legal circles on the 21st, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s SCIA Launch Preparation Team accepted applications until 6 p.m. the previous day from prosecutors, investigators and other personnel currently working at prosecutors’ offices who wished to receive special appointments to the new agency.

A total of 2,375 prosecution employees reportedly applied, equivalent to 82.6% of the SCIA’s authorized workforce of 2,874.

The preparation team did not disclose detailed figures, including the exact number of applicants. “We have taken into consideration that disclosing the total number of applications could affect future personnel management,” the team said. “It is therefore difficult to provide specific details.”

However, around 100 prosecutors are reportedly among the applicants. Although only about 30 prosecutors were known to have applied as of three hours before the deadline, applications are believed to have surged shortly before the submission period closed.

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Chon Hyeong Hwan, a former police officer and attorney at MegaX Law Office, said, “With the investigative function being transferred wholesale out of the prosecutors’ offices, this can be seen as a survival-driven decision by prosecutors choosing to follow the investigative work.”

“Ultimately, the success or failure of the new agency will not be determined by its name or organizational banner, but by whether it can produce investigative results that the public can actually feel within the first year of its launch,” Chon said.

A former military prosecutor who now works as an attorney said, “Many prosecutors may have applied to the SCIA with the expectation that experience at the agency will put them in a more advantageous position when they eventually enter private practice.”

“If they later enter the legal market, their relatively rare experience at the SCIA could make them more sought-after and significantly increase their market value,” the attorney added.

Based on the submitted applications, the preparation team plans to select candidates for special appointment next month after considering factors including preferred work location, professional experience and expertise. The selected candidates are expected to be formally appointed on October 2, when the SCIA is scheduled to launch.

For positions that remain unfilled following this round of special appointments, the preparation team plans to conduct an additional special appointment process targeting prosecutors and other personnel affiliated with the Prosecution Office.

The agency also plans to recruit additional personnel through competitive career-track hiring procedures targeting police officers, attorneys, certified public accountants, cybersecurity specialists and financial analysis experts.

Kim Min-jae, head of the preparation team and Vice Minister of the Interior and Safety, said, “The SCIA will serve as a key institution leading prosecution reform by implementing the separation of investigation and prosecution, a reform demanded by our times. I would like to express my gratitude to the public officials from prosecutors’ offices who voluntarily applied to join the SCIA.”

“We will proceed with the remaining steps without disruption to ensure the stable launch of the new organization,” Kim added.

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