Follow-up Bills After 'Abolition of Prosecutors' Investigative Powers' Passed One After Another Under DPK Leadership; Opposition Party Protests

[Financial News] With the launch of the Serious Crime Investigation Agency and the Public Prosecution Office, which will separate prosecutors' investigative and prosecutorial powers, imminent, the National Assembly proceeded with follow-up legislation to completely strip prosecutors of their investigative authority under the leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea. The People Power Party protested, calling it "rushed legislation."
The Security and Public Administration Committee, National Policy Committee, Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs, and Startups Committee, and National Assembly Gender Equality and Family Committee held full meetings at the National Assembly on the 15th and processed ancillary bills arising from amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act of the Republic of Korea. The amendments center on abolishing prosecutors' direct and supplementary investigative powers.
First, the Security and Public Administration Committee, led by the DPK, passed an amendment to the law establishing the Serious Crime Investigation Agency, granting the agency authority to conduct supplementary investigations and reinvestigations into crimes against socially vulnerable people. The amendment also stipulates that prosecutors affiliated with the Public Prosecution Office may request supplementary investigations or reinvestigations by the Serious Crime Investigation Agency and its regional agencies in only seven categories of crimes: child abuse, domestic violence, sex crimes, sexual crimes against children, stalking, abuse of people with disabilities, and elder abuse.
The Security and Public Administration Committee also directly referred six other follow-up bills related to the abolition of the prosecution service, including amendments to the Assembly and Demonstration Act and the Public Official Election Act, to the full meeting, where they were passed.
The National Policy Committee likewise passed five bills under DPK leadership, including amendments to the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act (MRFTA) and the Electronic Financial Transactions Act. These bills are also ancillary legislation related to prosecution reform. The National Assembly Gender Equality and Family Committee passed, under DPK leadership, amendments to the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Abuse, the Acts Against Prostitution, and the Act on the Prevention of Human Trafficking, revising wording concerning the entities responsible for investigations.
The Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs, and Startups Committee suspended the confirmation hearing for Lee So-young, nominee for minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, which was underway that day, and processed an amendment to the Petroleum and Alternative Fuel Business Act. The amendment revises which entities may request work-related information necessary for investigations.
People Power Party lawmakers on the respective standing committees left the meeting rooms, arguing that the DPK was preoccupied solely with prosecution reform and was pushing through rushed legislation.
Kang Myung-gu, the People Power Party's secretary of the Security and Public Administration Committee, criticized the DPK, saying, "With only two weeks left before the Criminal Procedure Act of the Republic of Korea takes effect, you brought forward an amendment saying, 'We will make a law so that the Serious Crime Investigation Agency can conduct supplementary investigations.'" He added, "Are you playing games with the law like this?"
Koo Ja-geun, the People Power Party's secretary of the Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs, and Startups Committee, said, "Although there was an understanding among the ruling and opposition lawmakers on the committee, the DPK should at least apologize and express regret." He then stormed out of the meeting, saying, "On a day like today, the DPK has nothing to say, even if it had 10 or 100 mouths."
The National Assembly Gender Equality and Family Committee had agreed between the ruling and opposition parties to process the bills, but People Power Party lawmakers did not participate in the votes and left the meeting. This followed an argument by Kang Sun-young, the People Power Party's secretary on the committee, who said, "Our committee deals with the rights and interests of women and young people. It should not process follow-up bills without sufficiently reviewing the gap in victim protection resulting from the abolition of prosecutors' supplementary investigative powers."
[email protected] Kim Hyung-gu Reporter