Serious crimes agency receives nearly 500 case notifications from police, transfers zero

The Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, now 10 days into its operations, has received notifications of nearly 500 cases from police but has yet to take over a single one.

According to data submitted to the office of People Power Party lawmaker Kim Ye-ji of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, the Korean National Police Agency notified the agency of 459 cases over the nine days from Oct. 2 to Oct. 10.

By regional office, the Seoul branch logged the most with 205 cases, followed by Busan with 99, Suwon with 76, Daegu with 38, Gwangju with 25 and Daejeon with 16.

As of Thursday, however, the agency had neither requested the transfer of any case from police nor received a single transfer.

Under the law establishing the agency, other investigative bodies that uncover any of the seven categories of serious crimes falling within its jurisdiction must immediately notify the agency's director.

When the agency requests a transfer, the referring body must comply unless it has legitimate grounds to refuse.

Yet the stalled handover process has deepened concerns about investigative delays.

Complaints and accusations filed directly with the agency tell a similar story: as of Wednesday, regional offices nationwide had received 82 such filings in total.

The agency is assigning those cases to relevant departments, but a shortage of personnel and infrastructure means full-scale investigations are unlikely to begin anytime soon.

"If police notifications do not lead to actual investigations by the agency, it is hard to say the system is working properly," Kim said. "The agency and the Korean National Police Agency must review the entire process — from case notification and transfer to the launch of investigations."