Moon promulgates prosecution reform legislation

May 04, 2022, 09:30 am

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President Moon Jae-in presides over his last Cabinet meeting at the presidential office on May 3, 2022./ Source: Yonhap

AsiaToday reporter Lee Wook-jae

President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday overturned the time of the Cabinet meeting and promulgated two controversial bills on prosecution reform, paving the way for eventually removing the prosecution’s power to investigate. Following the ruling Democratic Party’s tricks of ‘disguised withdrawal’ and ‘session splitting’, Cheong Wa Dae delayed the Cabinet meeting for several hours to virtually join the ruling party’s political tricks.

Moon presided over his Cabinet meeting at 2:30 p.m. and promulgated the revisions to the Prosecutors’ Office Act and the Criminal Procedure Act. The legislation will take effect in four months. Moon was the only one to stop the ruling party’s tyranny, but did not use a veto on the laws.

“Despite the achievements, concerns about political neutrality, fairness and selective justice in the prosecution’s investigation have still not been resolved. There are evaluations that reforms have not been enough to win public trust, which is why the National Assembly has taken a step further in separating investigations and indictment,” Moon said at the Cabinet meeting. “It is regrettable that the legislative process was painful as the earlier bipartisan agreement on the bills, which was reached by mediation by the National Assembly Speaker, collapsed.”

Normally, the Cabinet meeting opens at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. As usual, Cheong Wa Dae announced Monday that it would hold a Cabinet meeting at 10 a.m. However, it later pushed back the meeting to 2 p.m., facilitating the DP’s plan to complete the bill passage and promulgation on the same day.

Cheong Wa Dae is expected to face fierce criticism for its tricks and quick promulgation. As major changes in the criminal justice system is expected, the bills needed in-depth discussion. However, the president promulgated the bills swiftly. Under the Constitution Article 53, each bill passed by the National Assembly shall be sent to the Executive, and the President shall promulgate it within 15 days.

Besides, Cheong Wa Dae’s ignorance of the main opposition People Power Party’s request for an interview is also subject to criticism. Previously, PPP floor leader Kweon Seong-dong repeatedly demanded a meeting with Moon, but was not accepted. He visited the Blue House with a request for an interview, but met only the executives of the presidential office and failed to meet with senior officials. “A floor leader of the opposition party represents the people. I have never seen a president who disregards the people until the end of his term,” he said.

On the passage of the bills, PPP spokesperson Kim Hyung-dong said, “Today is the day of legislative dictatorship of the Republic of Korea. Procedures and principles collapsed against tricks and cheats and parliamentary democracy was trampled on.”

The PPP lawmakers headed to the presidential Blue House to lodge a strong complaint over the bill calling for Moon to veto.

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