Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act are fueling expectations that South Korea's private detective industry is on the verge of a breakthrough. As police take on a larger share of criminal investigations, demand is expected to grow for private-sector evidence gathering on behalf of victims and their legal representatives. The detective industry currently operates in a regulatory vacuum, with evidence collection in criminal cases permitted only in limited circumstances — yet interest is building, and even within the police force there are signs of enthusiasm for the sector's expansion.
Industry sources say the detective community is counting on the revised law to both formalize the profession and broaden its client base.
Ha Geum-seok, chairman of the Korea Licensed Detective Association, said the concentration of investigative authority in the police will open up the private investigation field. "Once the police become, in effect, the sole investigative body for everyday criminal cases, the number of cases they must handle will rise — and that will expand demand for private-sector support to help move investigations along quickly," he said.
A working detective who runs a combined detective and security agency said the profession already takes on evidence-collection work under limited delegation from lawyers. "Going forward, I expect more detectives will be attached to law firms or take on assignments directly from attorneys," he said.
Detectives as early-stage aides in criminal cases
Even now, parties to criminal cases are turning to private detectives for help — typically to secure materials that can later serve as leads when police open a formal investigation. Voice-phishing and fraud victims, for instance, sometimes hire a detective immediately after an incident to preserve evidence such as transaction records or closed-circuit television footage that would otherwise disappear over time.
Park Min-ho, a former police detective who now runs MacGyver Detective Agency, said the gap between reporting a crime and the start of an investigation can be considerable. "Even if you file a report right after a voice-phishing attack, it takes quite a long time before investigators actually get to work," he said. "By then, CCTV recordings that could identify the suspect have often already been deleted."
Park recalled a recent case in which a client had suffered losses of 390 million won ($276,000). "I went straight to the scene with the victim and secured video footage first," he said. "Detectives have no warrant authority or investigative powers, so we go around with the victim and collect whatever materials we can by appealing to people directly."
Park has also helped reverse the course of a criminal case entirely. A man accused of groping a bar owner in Mapo-gu, Seoul, came to him saying he had been drunk at the time and had no memory of the alleged incident.
Park tracked down a vehicle he believed would have captured the bar's entrance on its dashcam around the time of the alleged assault. When he reviewed the footage, the accuser's account fell apart: during the window she claimed the assault occurred, she was outside the establishment. The client was ultimately cleared of all charges.
Despite growing demand for detective services in criminal cases, the industry remains in a regulatory vacuum — there is no law or formal system defining the scope of detective work. The only relevant legislation is the Credit Information Use and Protection Act, revised in August 2020, which for the first time allowed businesses outside the credit-information sector to legally use the title "detective" for commercial purposes.
Even so, the permitted scope remains narrow, covering only activities such as locating individuals or finding contact information. The lack of a proper regulatory framework also makes it difficult to distinguish licensed detectives from so-called "errand centers" or informal inquiry agencies.
The legal risks are real. "If you are not careful when collecting materials, you can face charges under the anti-stalking law, information-protection regulations, the Communications Secrets Protection Act, or trespassing statutes," Park warned.
A growing market — and police insiders are taking notice
Even amid the regulatory gap, the detective market is showing clear signs of expansion. The number of working detectives is consistently rising, as is the number of credentials available to certify detective qualifications.
Private certifications in particular have surged since the Credit Information Act was revised. As of Thursday, the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training's private-qualification database listed 135 detective-related certificates. In the 12 years from 2008 through 2019 — the year before the law changed — only five detective credentials had been registered. In the seven years since, that figure has grown 27-fold.
The detective workforce is also growing. According to Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS) data, employment in the "detective and investigation services" category has risen consistently: from 179 workers in 2020, the figure climbed to 289 in 2021, 326 in 2022, 360 in 2023 and 539 in 2024.
Within the police force, the mood is quietly optimistic. An expanded detective sector would not only support police investigations from the private side but also open career paths for retired officers with years of investigative experience.
Min Gwan-gi, chairman of the National Police Workplace Council, said detectives could absorb some of the investigative load when police are overwhelmed. "Traffic accidents alone are so numerous that it can be hard to gather evidence for each one. If detectives can be hired to find that evidence, there would be a real distribution effect," he said.
Min also pointed to the waste of expertise when veteran investigators retire with nowhere to go. "Officers spend 20 or 30 years doing investigations, and when they retire as investigators, there is simply no place for them," he said. "All that specialized knowledge goes to waste. If experienced retired officers can keep working rather than being sidelined, that is a positive outcome for the country as a whole."
20ki@heraldcorp.com
