An anti-corruption monitoring body under the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has reportedly decided to dispatch an inspection team to South Korea on concerns that the country's prosecution reform legislation could weaken its anti-corruption capabilities. 

According to the legal circle on Wednesday, the OECD Working Group on Bribery (WGB) decided to send an inspection team to South Korean in the first half of this year during its regular meeting session in early December in France. 

The participants of the WGB meeting reportedly made the decision over concerns that the prosecution reform could weaken the country’s anti-corruption capabilities and delay investigation. 

The decision comes about 15 months after the revisions to the Prosecutors' Office Act and the Criminal Procedure Act were enacted in September 2022 after securing parliamentary approval. The legislation is aimed at significantly reducing the prosecution's investigative powers by limiting prosecution probes to only two types of crime: corruption and economic crime.

The anti-corruption monitoring body is expected to send an inspection team before June to check the status of corruption investigations by the police and prosecution and assess how the legislation has affected the country’s investigative capabilities.