Five cases are pending in which labor inspectors, who serve as special judicial police officers, have been accused of violating the law-distortion offense and are contesting the complaints, the government said. With inspectors beginning to exercise independent investigative powers in earnest after a revised Criminal Procedure Act took effect on the 2nd of this month, concerns that legal risk would chill investigations are now proving well founded.
Kim Young-hoon, minister of employment and labor, said on the 13th that "about five cases are currently being contested" in response to a question on the law-distortion offense from Rep. Kwak Sang-eon of the Democratic Party of Korea during a parliamentary audit of the ministry by the National Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee.
For more than 70 years since the Labor Standards Act was enacted in 1953, labor inspectors handled labor cases under the investigative direction of prosecutors. Under the revised law, they now exercise primary investigative authority on their own. Inspectors conduct investigations without prior direction from prosecutors, and the head of each regional employment and labor office bears final responsibility for case handling and decisions.
A system of "guidance and advice" from prosecutors was introduced to reduce confusion during the transition, but critics have said it has limits in filling gaps in the field because it carries no legal force.
Concerns were particularly strong about a flood of law-distortion complaints targeting inspectors. Because the offense has been discussed as covering not only judges and prosecutors but also investigators who distort the law in the course of their duties, both labor and management could challenge decisions by inspectors, who are relatively short on expertise, and pursue legal fights. In that case, inspectors could handle investigations passively out of concern about complaints, or cases could drag on, and such side effects of investigative independence could end up harming workers and companies in the field.
Aware of these concerns, Kim said publicly at a meeting of regional office heads on the 30th of last month that "office heads will take responsibility for investigation results, and headquarters will join in supporting difficulties in the field, such as the law-distortion offense, to protect inspectors thoroughly."
Staff shortages and a lack of expertise among inspectors have also emerged as urgent tasks. According to the office of Rep. Park Soo-min of the People Power Party, the overall staffing rate for inspectors stands at about 80% of the authorized headcount.
The ministry plans to strengthen training for inspectors and expand their ranks in stages. "We are pushing to increase the number of labor inspectors to ensure safety at industrial sites and compliance with labor standards," the ministry said. "We will add 700 more next year, and for the 2028 increase of 350, we will finalize detailed plans after a comprehensive review of administrative demand in the field."