Lee Jae-myung: "Prosecutor Reform? Investigation and Prosecution Must Be Separated to Prevent Thorough Scrutiny Like Cho Kuk"

Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province and a presidential primary candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending a vision talk concert invited by the Democratic Party's first-term lawmakers' group 'Deomincho' on the 25th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate and Governor of Gyeonggi Province, emphasized regarding prosecution reform, "The way to prevent the prosecution from setting a fixed goal to indict like former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, and to thoroughly investigate until they find something, even trivial matters, is to separate investigation and prosecution."

On the 25th, at a talk concert hosted by 'Deomincho,' a group of first-term lawmakers, Lee said, "I would like to say a word about prosecution reform," and made the remarks.

However, Lee stated that investigative authority should not be entirely handed over to the police. He added, "There needs to be discussion on how to separate investigation and prosecution," and "We should not give all investigative authority to the police. The police are also risky. We need to consider when we lose power."

He also advocated for limiting criminal case fees for lawyers and reducing prosecutors' authority. He said, "I will announce this as a pledge, but criminal case fees for lawyers should also be limited. Three hundred million won for a single phone call?that is all corruption," and emphasized, "There should be a cap on criminal case fees, and if it exceeds a certain level, there must be a justified reason."

He continued, "There are few countries where prosecutors can arbitrarily decide not to indict even if a crime has been committed. The authority of individual prosecutors must be reduced," and raised his voice, saying, "The decision to indict should be made by a jury, not the prosecutor."

Regarding the cause of the shrinking support base for the Democratic Party, he responded, "Recently, the law to install CCTV in operating rooms was passed, and media reform-related laws are currently underway," adding, "Quite a few reform legislations are in progress, so please trust and wait a little longer."