Korea labor ministry prepares inspectors to run their own cases

South Korea's labor ministry said Wednesday it has put in place a new investigation command structure, review committees and a training program to prepare its labor inspectors to run cases on their own when prosecutors lose their authority over them next month.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor held a national meeting of senior headquarters officials and the heads of all 49 regional employment and labor offices, saying each office chief is now the final person responsible for labor cases in their jurisdiction. The change stems from the revised Criminal Procedure Act, which takes effect Oct. 2 and removes prosecutors' power to direct investigations by special judicial police officers, including labor inspectors.

Under the new Labor Inspector Investigation Rules, the ministry has spelled out investigation principles and the chain of command, leaving regional office heads with final responsibility and department chiefs supporting the actual casework. It has set up investigation review committees at its headquarters and seven regional offices, with outside members drawn from investigation and legal fields, and drawn up an investigation manual to keep standards consistent across regions.

Training has been expanded under a plan drawn up in August. New inspectors will spend eight of their 12-week course in a practice-based investigation school, working mock cases built from real complaints from intake through closure, while serving inspectors get criminal law courses tailored to labor cases and managers attend workshops on directing investigations. The ministry plans to establish a labor investigation training center in 2027, which would be its first dedicated institution for the subject.

The seven regional employment and labor commissioners at the meeting shared their own preparations and discussed what else needs to be checked before the change takes effect.

"The Employment and Labor Ministry should take a step further forward with this independence of investigative authority as an opportunity," Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon said, asking each regional office head to respect the judgment of frontline inspectors while examining cases carefully from the public's point of view.

Kim also called for continued training and cooperation with related agencies in each district, saying the ministry must build public trust through fair and strict labor investigations grounded in a steady sense of duty and expertise.