Defense ministry rewrites military pension forms as prosecution service closes

The defense ministry said Friday it had revised four military regulations to replace references to the prosecution service with the new Public Prosecution Office, a terminology cleanup required by South Korea's reorganization of its criminal justice system.

The revisions took effect the same day. Under Military Regulation No. 1229, the military pension enforcement rule now directs applicants to submit attachments to the Public Prosecution Office rather than the prosecution service, and the military prosecution records rule was amended alongside it in the same batch.

The changes follow legislation that abolished the prosecution service and split its functions, creating the Public Prosecution Office under the justice minister and the Serious Crime Investigation Bureau under the interior minister. The Criminal Procedure Act was also amended to separate investigation from indictment. All three laws take effect on Oct. 2.

The interior ministry said the Serious Crime Investigation Bureau is in final preparations for its launch, with a joint task force of government bodies pushing ahead with experienced-hire procedures. The bureau will start work with 1,900 staff, or 66.1 percent of its initial full quota of 2,874. Seven senior investigators have been named, including a deputy chief and the heads of six regional bureaus, and remaining vacancies will be filled in stages through outside recruitment of police officers, lawyers and accountants.

The labor ministry adopted investigative rules for labor inspectors that took effect the same day and convened a nationwide meeting of its headquarters executives and the heads of 49 regional labor offices. It asked them to carry out measures responding to the end of prosecutorial direction over special judicial police officers, which gives labor inspectors independence in their investigations.

"The government will continue to work closely with related agencies to support the launch and stabilization of the Serious Crime Investigation Bureau," said Kim Min-jae, a vice interior minister who heads the bureau's launch preparation team. "We will do our utmost so that the bureau investigates fairly and effectively under the law and principles and establishes itself as a capable and trusted professional investigative agency that protects people's lives."