Lee Junseok: "Lee Administration's 'Try and Give Up' Approach... Only the Public Suffers from Prosecutorial Reform"

Reform Party Hosts Seminar
"In Search of True Prosecutorial Reform"

On the 29th, Lee Junseok, leader of the Reform Party, criticized the prosecutorial reform being pursued by the government and the ruling party, saying, "The policy direction of the Lee Jaemyung administration is to try things out and give up if they don't work, in every area including the economy, the judiciary, and culture." He emphasized, "Of course, it may be the president's first time, but instead of amateurism, politics should be about building well-designed systems from the beginning."

Reform Party leader Lee Junseok criticizes the Democratic Party's prosecutorial reform measures at a forum titled "In Search of Genuine Prosecutorial Reform" held on the 29th at the National Assembly Members' Office Building in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

At the "In Search of True Prosecutorial Reform" seminar hosted by Reform Party floor leader Chun Haram at the National Assembly Members' Office Building that morning, Lee referred to recent remarks by Presidential Office Policy Chief Kim Yongbeom regarding the Yellow Envelope Act, where Kim suggested, "We can try it, and if it doesn't work, we can fix it later."

Lee pointed out, "This year, we are facing a grave situation with the declaration of martial law, which has caused problems in the division of work between the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials and other investigative agencies." He added, "In a situation that they themselves call an insurrection, a former president was released and then sent back to prison, causing confusion."

He continued, "If the Democratic Party had seen how immature their own investigative system reform was this time, they should listen to more opinions about what they are now trying to do."

Lee also said, "Although a lot of authority has recently been transferred to the police through adjustments to investigative powers, if there is no corresponding increase in the number of frontline officers or sufficient training for investigative police, it will ultimately be the public who suffers." He added, "Since my constituency is Dongtan, I have seen many urgent lawsuits related to apartment allocations. Compared to other serious crimes, economic cases receive less attention, so the practical benefit of lawsuits often disappears before any result is reached."

Floor leader Chun Haram remarked, "The Democratic Party says it will essentially dismantle the prosecution and strip it of investigative powers, but when it comes to special prosecutors, they still want to use the investigative capabilities of prosecutors. This makes me think that the Democratic Party's true intention is to wield the sword of the prosecutor themselves, prevent others from using it, and stop investigations aimed at the Democratic Party."

Chun also criticized, "If things go as the Democratic Party wants, the prosecution will not be able to conduct direct supplementary investigations and will have to send cases to the police. This will lead to repeated appeals, resulting in unprecedented prosperity for lawyers who are former police officers. Such reforms are not meant to simply increase business for lawyers."

He continued, "We need to establish several principles. The first is that investigative procedures must not become excessively complicated or delayed, nor should they harm the public. Another is that the overall investigative capacity of our nation must not be excessively undermined."

At the seminar, Kim Jungchul, Supreme Council member of the Reform Party, who delivered the keynote presentation, stated, "For genuine prosecutorial reform that serves the people, the police and prosecution must be able to control each other through mutual checks and balances." He added, "There needs to be a systematic structure where prosecutors can correct police mistakes and police can correct prosecutor mistakes."

Kim proposed, "By amending just three articles of the Criminal Procedure Act, we can achieve the prosecutorial reform we seek," suggesting: ▲ abolishing direct investigative powers and granting only supplementary investigative authority, ▲ allowing only limited supplementary investigations, and ▲ strengthening the effectiveness of police oversight functions.