To rebuild public trust and strengthen legal expertise in property crime cases, the Investigation Reform Committee for the Recovery of Public Trust announced on September 6, 2026, a comprehensive reform package recommending the hiring of at least 500 licensed attorneys as police officers over the next five years, according to news1.kr and v.daum.net.
Five-Year Attorney Hiring Plan for Police Stations
The reform committee formally deliberated and voted on 12 distinct recommendations aimed at bolstering police investigative fairness and professional capacity. Under the proposed recruitment schedule, the agency will hire a minimum of 100 lawyers annually for five years. Committee Chairman Kim Nam-jun explained that while South Korean police excel at general investigative duties, legal reasoning in property crimes often requires stronger backing, a gap the new legal hires intend to bridge, news1.kr reported. The blueprint distributes three to four licensed attorneys to every police station nationwide. Committee Chairman Kim Nam-jun stated: Our country’s police investigative capacity is quite excellent, but in areas such as property crimes, legal judgment is evaluated as relatively weak. If people with lawyer qualifications enter the police, there is a possibility that point will be supplemented.
Committee member Park Yong-dae stated that establishing a steady recruitment pipeline of over 100 lawyers a year should prompt the National Police Agency to develop improved working conditions and compensation packages for legal officers, v.daum.net reported. Committee member Park Yong-dae stated: If a plan to select more than 100 people every year is established, I expect that the National Police Agency will come up with appropriate treatment improvement measures.
Alongside legal recruitment, the committee directed authorities to prioritize skilled investigators for vulnerable demographics—including women, youth, and individuals with disabilities—by offering specialized training programs and targeted promotion incentives.
Strict rules prohibit outside influence in investigations
To eliminate improper outside influence, the panel advised strict prohibitions against inquiries or lobbying from individuals outside the assigned investigative team or chain of command. Officers receiving such inquiries face a mandatory reporting duty alongside stricter disciplinary and criminal penalties for non-compliance. These measures, alongside conflict-of-interest rules requiring family investigations to move to separate regional offices, reinforce existing internal reform drafts that lacked formal regulatory codification.
The overhaul separates initial documentation handling from core investigative duties, shifting intake registration tasks entirely to non-investigative general administrative personnel. Complainants gain online access to track procedural progress. Supervisory directives must travel exclusively via electronic documents through the Criminal Justice Information System (KICS), while designated legal officers act as internal investigation reviewers.
External members will oversee Police Investigation Review Committee
Statutory backing will anchor the Police Investigation Review Committee, mandating that the board consist entirely of external members to oversee operational legality. The National Police Agency also plans to hold official biannual meetings with crime victim organizations to gather feedback and refine supplementary investigation requests.
Police officials confirmed receipt of the proposals following a review of public concerns regarding the criminal justice framework. A police representative stated that the agency will accept the committee’s recommendations, drafting detailed execution timelines and reporting back to the panel, as covered by news1.kr. A police official stated: We gravely recognize public interest and concern regarding police investigations following the reorganization of the criminal justice system on the 2nd, and while actively accepting the committee’s recommendations for the development of police investigations, we plan to prepare detailed implementation plans and schedules and report them to the committee.
The National Police Agency also plans to actively accept and implement other agenda items under review by the investigation reform committee as soon as recommendations are announced.
Fair control must accompany strong investigative competence
Committee Chairman Kim Nam-jun emphasized the philosophy underlying the entire reform initiative. Committee Chairman Kim Nam-jun stated: The fairness of investigation and investigative competence are not opposing values. We must not burden an incompetent investigative agency with responsibility alone, nor should control be weakened just because competence is secured. Only when fair control and strong investigative competence are equipped together can the public finally trust the investigation.
Regarding the inclusion of pre-existing measures such as the investigation avoidance system and the prohibition of case inquiries in the new recommendations, Park explained: This is content also prepared by the National Police Agency, but the regulation revision has not been completed yet. Determining that there is a need to push forward swiftly, we included it in the recommendations.
Lawyers will join police stations to improve legal reasoning
Why does the committee want to place lawyers in every police station?
Committee Chairman Kim Nam-jun stated that while general policing is strong, legal reasoning in property crime investigations requires better reinforcement. Placing three to four licensed attorneys in every local police station addresses this specific vulnerability.
What happens if someone outside a case makes an inquiry to an investigator?
The guidelines prohibit non-assigned individuals or commanders from inquiring about or lobbying for specific cases. Investigators who receive outside contact face a mandatory reporting duty under strengthened disciplinary rules.
How will supervisory instructions be managed moving forward?
Superiors must transmit all formal investigative directives strictly through electronic documents on the Criminal Justice Information System (KICS) to maintain transparent accountability.
Who will handle the intake of new case documents at police stations?
Non-investigative general administrative personnel will take over all document receipt and registration duties, separating administrative intake entirely from active investigative casework.
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