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CIO Signs MOU with UK SFO for Mutual Cooperation - Chief Prosecutor Kim Jin Wook and SFO Director Lisa Osofsky Agree to Partner Collaborate for on Anti-corruption Efforts -
  • Date : 2022.09.26
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Korea’s Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) and the United Kingdom’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to foster mutual cooperation between two agencies. This marks the first instance of the CIO establishing an MOU for collaborative efforts with a foreign investigative agency.

Kim Jin Wook, Chief Prosecutor of the CIO, and Lisa Osofsky, Director of the SFO convened at the SFO headquarters in London on June 22 (local time) to officially endorse the “Memorandum of Understanding for Enhanced Collaboration between Korea’s Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials and the Serious Fraud Office of the United Kingdom.”

The MOU served as a blueprint for the comitment made by both agencies to facilitate exchangeand cooperation in investigating and prosecuting corruption offenses, while continually advancing mutual collaboration.

In pursuit of this objective, the CIO and the UK SFO have agreed to share experiences in eradicating corruption offenses, actively participate in workshops and seminars focused on investigating and prosecuting corruption offenses, facilitate reciprocal visits by members of both agencies to foster the exchange of knowledge and experience, and exchange international expertise and information regarding the judicial systems, laws, and specific law enforcement methods employed by each agency.

During the meeting with Osofsky, Kim expressed the significance of visiting the SFO for the MOU signing, as the SFO serves as a role model the CIO. Kim further proposed that the two agencies collaborate by drawing on the SFO’s successful establishment experience. In response, Osofsky wholeheartedly agreed to close collaboration, emphasizing the indispensable nature of international cooperation and information exchange in combatting corruption offenses.

□ Subsequent to the MOU signing, the two agencies engaged in a two-hour meeting wherein the CIO delegates, led by Kim, provided an overview of the historical background of Korea’s criminal justice system and the roles and functions of the CIO. The SFO officials presented an account of the establishment of the SFO in 1987, the operational status of the British criminal justice system, including interagency cooperation within the UK, and their experiences in investigating bribery and other corruption crimes. The meeting was followed by an extensive question-and-answer session centered around the seperation process of investigation and prosecution in both countries, post-separation operational status, and the significance and respective roles of each agency.

□ Following the signing of the MOU with the SFO, Kim will visit the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre (IACCC) under the National Crime Agency (NCA) on June 23 (local time).

A CIO official said, Anticorruption is a global issue that is continuously discussed in multilateral summits, such as the G20 and international anticorruption conferences. As the sharing of information and collaboration with foreign investigative agencies is pivotal in combatting corruption offenses in the public sector, the CIO will continue to actively pursue cooperative opportunities with foreign investigative agencies.”