Police will create a dedicated team to track criminal revenue in response to new scams and illegal private lending that harm people's livelihoods.
The Korean National Police Agency National Office of Investigation (NOI) said on the 11th it will push ahead with "advancing the investigative system for tracking criminal revenue."
Starting with personnel moves in the second half of this year, police will split the criminal revenue tracking investigative teams at the Seoul agency, Gyeonggi Nambu agency, and Busan agency into a "criminal revenue preservation team" and a "financial tracing investigation team." Existing investigative teams will focus on criminal revenue preservation, while the newly established financial tracing investigation teams will handle detecting and investigating money laundering crimes and cases related to specific financial transaction information.
By the first half of 2027, financial tracing investigation teams will also be set up in Incheon, Gyeonggi Bukbu, and Gyeongnam agencies. Based on the performance of the six city and provincial agencies, dedicated teams will eventually be installed in all city and provincial agencies.
Police will also designate "criminal revenue preservation officers" at major precincts during personnel moves in the second half of this year. Priority will be given to those with relevant expertise and experience, such as graduates of the Police MBA master's program or certified public accountants.
First, authorities are reviewing designating such officers at seven precincts, including Seoul Gangnam, Songpa, Suseo, and Gangdong precincts; Busan Dongnae and Busanjin precincts; and Gyeonggi Nambu Suwon Gwonseon precinct. They also plan to expand to all first-tier precincts after analyzing performance.
Since creating city and provincial criminal revenue tracking investigative teams in 2019, police have steadily increased the scale of revenue preservation. The amount preserved under court decisions granting pre-indictment confiscation and collection preservation rose from 70.2 billion won (96 cases) in 2019 to 850 billion won (3,400 cases) last year, jumping more than twelvefold in six years.
Police plan to keep increasing the scale of preservation by strengthening their role in tracking criminal revenue from gambling, narcotics, fraud, and prostitution. They will also strengthen cooperation with financial authorities, including the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the Financial Supervisory Service, to link money laundering investigations with asset-freezing procedures.
Hong Seok-gi, head of the National Office of Investigation (NOI), said, "Financial tracing investigations and criminal revenue preservation are core investigative procedures for restoring victims' actual losses," adding, "We will broaden the perspective of police investigations from arrest and punishment to recovery of losses to help provide real relief for victims."