Korea Coast Guard rewrites investigation rules as prosecutors lose direct powers

The Korea Coast Guard said Friday it revised its investigation rules to align its procedures and forms with the amended Criminal Procedure Act, which took effect the same day and removed prosecutors' authority to conduct investigations directly.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries published the partial amendment to the Coast Guard Investigation Rules, which takes effect Oct. 2.

Under the revision, the Coast Guard created a new article on personal protection for crime victims, witnesses and informants who report crimes and fear retaliation. Protective measures include sheltering victims at designated facilities, escorting them to investigative agencies or courts and on their way home, providing temporary lodging, stepping up patrols and installing closed-circuit television around their homes, and building emergency contact networks.

The amended rules set out how judicial police officers request opinions from prosecutors in person, by video, telephone or in writing, and require them to record in an investigation report whether they accepted the opinion a prosecutor provided and to file it in the case record. A new provision covers the officer's written opinion before a prosecutor seeks a detention warrant.

The revision also changes the paperwork officers use to request confirmation of a suspect's whereabouts, and replaces references to the prosecution service with the Public Prosecution Office, including in detention and release notices. Seizure-related documents have been renamed from requests for instructions to requests for opinions, and a new form covers notification when an officer declines to follow an opinion a prosecutor has resubmitted.

Complainants and other aggrieved parties now have a defined route to challenge what they consider unlawful or unfair investigations. They may submit an objection to the head of the Coast Guard office handling the case, and if dissatisfied with the response, apply for a review by the head of the next higher office.

Officers who report whales found entangled, stranded or adrift must notify the climate and environment minister if the animal is confirmed or suspected to be an internationally endangered species, and the oceans minister if it is confirmed or suspected to be a marine protected organism. A provision on release reports has been renamed notification, and language referring to transfer to prosecutors has been changed to transfer to the Public Prosecution Office.