Justice ministry rewrites immigration report forms as prosecutor's office closes

South Korea's justice ministry said Friday it revised three immigration forms used to report immigration offenders, aligning them with the new criminal justice system that took effect this month.

Under the revision to the enforcement rules of the Immigration Control Act, a reference to the prosecution service on one form becomes a reference to the new prosecution office, which was created under the justice minister. Two other forms drop references to the district prosecutors' office and to its chief, and an English-language line telling complainants the report is filed with the district public prosecutor's office now reads simply "filed."

The change is a follow-up to the legislation that reshaped how Korea investigates and prosecutes crime. The Prosecution Office Act, enacted on March 24 as Law No. 21490, abolished the prosecutors' office and established the prosecution office under the justice minister, while the Criminal Procedure Act was amended to end prosecutors' power to investigate directly and make police officers the sole investigating authority.

The new system took effect on Oct. 2, when the prosecution office was launched, 78 years after the prosecutors' office opened in 1948. The revision to the immigration rules was issued as Ministerial Ordinance No. 1172 and took effect the same day it was announced.

The amended ordinance was published in the official gazette on Oct. 23.