Democratic Party to Finalize Party Position by the 5th
High-Level Party-Government Consultative Meeting on the 7th
Unified Plan to Be Reached
The Democratic Party of Korea has decided to introduce a unified prosecution reform bill, centered on abolishing the Prosecutors' Office and separating investigation and indictment functions, after internal discussions and a high-level party-government consultative meeting. With Party Leader Jung Cheongrae having declared that the legislative process for prosecution reform will be completed before Chuseok, the Democratic Party is expected to pass the prosecution reform bill at the National Assembly plenary session on the 25th.
Yoon Konyoung, the Democratic Party secretary for the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee, met with reporters after the party-government consultative meeting on the 2nd and explained, "On the 5th, we will hold a public discussion within the Democratic Party to gather opinions on prosecution reform, and on the 7th, we will form a unified plan through a high-level party-government consultative meeting."
If the amendment passes the National Assembly plenary session on the 25th of this month, it will take effect starting January next year. The Prosecutors' Office, which has been the foundation of South Korea's criminal justice system for the past 76 years, will thus become part of history. The Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, which will take over investigations of the six major crimes (corruption, economic crimes, crimes by public officials, election crimes, defense project crimes, and major disasters) previously handled by the prosecution, will be placed under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. Meanwhile, the Indictment Office, which will solely handle indictments, will be placed under the Ministry of Justice. However, it has been decided that the Indictment Office will not be granted supplementary investigative authority. The proposal to establish the National Investigation Commission under the Prime Minister's Office has been put on hold.
Meanwhile, the so-called "Chu-Na Battle" between Democratic Party lawmaker Choo Mi-ae, who serves as chair of the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee, and Na Kyungwon, who has been nominated as the secretary for the People Power Party on the committee, has begun in earnest. On the 2nd, Chairperson Choo included the following items on the agenda for the full committee meeting: ▲ adoption of the plan for a public hearing on prosecution reform and ▲ request for submission of documents. She had previously announced that the appointment of a secretary would also be on the agenda but withdrew this item. Na visited Chairperson Choo just before the full committee meeting to protest, viewing the move as an attempt to block the appointment of a secretary. Na demanded, "The Legislation and Judiciary Committee must play its role so that the spirit of bipartisan agreement is respected in the National Assembly," and requested that the appointment of a secretary be included on the agenda for agreement between the secretaries. However, this request was not accepted.
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