As the Financial Supervisory Service is pushing to expand the scope of duties for special judicial police (hereafter special investigators) related to financial crimes affecting people's livelihoods, President Lee Jae-myung said on the 27th that it is necessary to give the FSS the authority to launch ex officio investigations. Ex officio investigative authority is the power to recognize suspected crimes on its own and "conduct investigations independently." Under current rules, FSS special investigators can investigate only cases directed by prosecutors, and differences have emerged with the Financial Services Commission during the process of expanding duties.
Presiding over a Cabinet meeting at the Blue House that day, Lee said, "I hear the FSS has been set up so it cannot conduct ex officio investigations, and that is an even bigger problem." He then asked Financial Services Commission Chairperson Lee Eog-weon, "The relationship between the FSC and the FSS is delicate, but is the FSC a supervisory body or a higher body?" When Lee replied, "A supervisory body," the president noted, "How can you say they can't conduct (ex officio investigations)?"
Lee said, "Even now, when there is recognition, the FSS begins an investigation, but when it is submitted to the Securities and Futures Commission and sent to the prosecution, it comes back down under the prosecutors' direction (a structure)." He also said, "Because the FSS is a private organization, there were various concerns when the National Assembly discussed this in August 2015," noting that there was controversy over potential "abuse of public power" in granting authority to a private organization.
Lee said, "The purpose of introducing special investigators is to allow public officials or private bodies handling highly specialized fields to act quickly and professionally so that legal procedures are followed during administrative investigations when prosecutors or police cannot keep up with investigations."
Lee added, "Administrative agency officials handling the work are organizations like the approved FSS, which is a professional body and an organization entrusted with public duties, so they are quasi-public institutions," and said, "Even so, isn't it strange that only prosecutors must approve the correction of illegalities? What is wrong should be fixed."
Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho, head of the competent ministry, said, "The FSS can conduct investigations without a warrant and can also trace accounts," adding, "However, if the FSS conducts investigations, the impact on the capital market could be very large," expressing concern. President Lee then said, "Are you implying that abusing authority or poking into things that would otherwise be let go could cause instability?" and added, "Everyone must follow the law."