Ruling party aims to pass judicial distortion offense and prosecution reform in February session

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\r\n[Financial News] The Democratic Party of Korea announced on the 6th that during the February extraordinary session of the National Assembly it plans to pass follow-up legislation on prosecution reform, introduce a judicial distortion offense, and handle bills that support government policies such as housing supply.
Democratic Party leader Jung Chung-rae convened a Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly that day. Referring to the prosecution’s decision not to appeal the first-instance ruling on alleged preferential treatment in the Wirye New Town development, following the Daejang-dong scandal, he stated, "This clearly shows why prosecution reform is necessary and why we need a judicial distortion offense." He added that the relevant bills would be handled "as quickly as possible during the February extraordinary session of the National Assembly."
The previous day, the Democratic Party held a policy general assembly of its lawmakers and gathered party-wide opinions on the government’s prosecution reform plan. Key points included granting the Public Prosecution Office the authority to request supplementary investigations and integrating the personnel structure of the Serious Crime Investigation Agency. The party plans to deliver its revised proposals to the government this week and, once a revised government bill reflecting them is submitted to the National Assembly, to pass it during the February session. The judicial distortion offense will also be reintroduced after the party’s Policy Committee removes any potentially unconstitutional elements, with the aim of passing it as well.
Democratic Party floor leader Han Byung-do said that at the plenary session scheduled for the 12th, the party would seek bipartisan agreement to pass as many livelihood-related bills as possible. The goal is to process around 80 bills, including the Essential Medical Services Enhancement Act and amendments to the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection.
\r\nHe also said the party would use next week’s interpellation session to review major government policies, including Lunar New Year livelihood measures, support measures for small business owners and small and medium-sized enterprises, and housing supply measures.
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jiwon.song@fnnews.com Song Ji-won Reporter