DP pushes to pass prosecution reform legislation

Apr 27, 2022, 09:30 am

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Lawmakers of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), including PPP head Lee Jun-seok, stage a rally at the National Assembly in Seoul on April 26, 2022, in protest of the ruling Democratic Party’s push for legislation on scrapping the prosecution’s investigative powers./ Photographed by Lee Byung-hwa (photolbh@)

AsiaToday reporter Jeong Geum-min

The rival parties are still at odds on prosecution reform bill. The ruling Democratic Party (DP) defined the request of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) for a “reconsideration of the compromise deal” as a breach of the consensus and is willing to unilaterally pass bills on reducing and ultimately removing the prosecution’s investigative powers, using its majority. In response, the PPP requested its party members to watch the situation carefully.

The DP held a legislation subpanel meeting of the parliamentary legislation and judiciary committee on Tuesday to review the compromise deal. Initially, the rival parties planned to make a draft for each party based on Speaker Park Byeong-seung’s mediation deal, but the PPP overturned the agreement. The DP is highly likely to pass them unilaterally.

On April 22, the big parties agreed to remove the four categories from the prosecution’s authority to investigate crime cases involving government officials, elections, the defense industry, and large-scale incidents that take the lives of many people, and prohibit the investigation of special cases that go beyond the justification and identity of the crime. However, the PPP changed its position, saying, “Crime cases involving public officials and elections should be within the scope of the prosecution’s authority.”

“The whole party’s stance changed drastically at the words of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol and Justice Minister nominee Han Dong-hoon. It has been found that the PPP is moved by Yoon’s heart, not the heart of the public,” said DP floor leader Park Hong-keun. “We will wrap up the judiciary committee meeting with the compromise deal and strongly demand the convening of the plenary session on Wednesday for approval,” he said.

On the other hand, the PPP said there is a hole in the revision version prepared by the ruling party. The DP’s revision version, revealed by Rep. Jun Joo-hye of the PPP, proposes that the prosecution should be given authority to supplement investigations in cases to decide whether to indict or not.

“I raised objections to it because the revision had a new amendment which was beyond the agreement,” Jun said. “If the DP insists on such an amendment, it is virtually destroying the agreement.”

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