Joo Ho-young Pushes Amendment to Corruption Investigation Office Act
Justice Party: "Simultaneous Processing Is Wordplay"
Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, is attending the emergency response committee and senior lawmakers joint meeting held at the National Assembly on the 21st, delivering an opening remark. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@
[Asia Economy Reporters Kang Nahum and Lim Chunhan] The People Power Party has played a winning card by proposing to handle the Lime and Optimus special investigations and the launch of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (Gongsoocheo) simultaneously. In particular, they independently proposed a Gongsoocheo Act with the 'toxic clauses' removed, countering the ruling party, but cooperation with the Justice Party is already showing signs of friction, drawing attention to future responses.
Kim Jong-in, the emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party, said at the emergency committee chairman and senior lawmakers joint meeting held at the National Assembly on the 21st, "I think almost no one believes that an objective investigation can be conducted just because Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae exercised her investigative authority and delegated this case," emphasizing, "There is no other way but a special investigation to make the public convinced." Joo Ho-young, the floor leader of the People Power Party, also said on KBS radio that day, "Let's conduct a special investigation promptly," adding, "This is the demand of the people."
Initially, the People Power Party intended to increase pressure on the Democratic Party through opposition cooperation with the Justice Party and the People Party, but plans were somewhat disrupted due to the Gongsoocheo Act with the toxic clauses removed. The Justice Party was in favor of introducing the special investigation and launching Gongsoocheo simultaneously. However, the situation changed when Floor Leader Joo mentioned preconditions.
The People Power Party identified the separation of investigative and prosecutorial powers of Gongsoocheo and the abolition of the provisions for investigating abuse of authority by judges and prosecutors as toxic clauses requiring legal amendment. The day before, Yoo Sang-beom, a People Power Party lawmaker, took the lead in proposing an amendment to the Gongsoocheo Act deleting these toxic clauses. The amendment excluded job-related crimes from the investigation scope, limited the investigation to corruption crimes, and also removed the prosecutorial authority of Gongsoocheo prosecutors.
Jung Hojin, the chief spokesperson of the Justice Party, commented, "Simultaneous handling of the special investigation and Gongsoocheo based on the amendment of the Gongsoocheo Act is nothing but wordplay. The People Power Party's wordplay is also an obstacle to uncovering the truth of the Lime and Optimus financial fraud," criticizing, "When asked to recommend the head of Gongsoocheo, suddenly they want to cut the Gongsoocheo Act, which has not even been launched yet. What kind of mindset is this? It would be more honest to say that you oppose the establishment of Gongsoocheo and stand on the side of the prosecution."
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