Ruling party to push for prosecutorial reform bill passage

Park Ji-hyun, the co-chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Korea's emergency committee, speaks during a general meeting of the party's lawmakers at the National Assembly on Seoul's Yeouido, Tuesday. Joint Press Corps

Some DPK members call for slowdown in prosecutorial reform

By Jung Da-min

Hardliners have gained the upper hand within the ruling liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) in a drive to reform the prosecution to separate its investigative and prosecution powers in response to its overreaching role in alleged past corruption cases. But a few DPK members expressed concerns about the manner in which the reform is being pursued ahead of the local elections on June 1.

Park Ji-hyun, an interim leader of the ruling party, is one of such skeptic.

"I hope that we can have a reasonable debate today. It seems that there are two roads ahead of us. One is where we give up the prosecutorial reform and then focus our time and energy on improving the livelihoods of the public; the other is one where we go ahead with the reform," she said during a party's meeting with its members. "The problem is that even though we push for it, there are no ways that we can make it because the passage of the bill requires us to work together with the Justice Party, but the minor party is against it and there are also people from within who are voicing concern about the bill."

Park called for a slowdown of the initiative, claiming more time is needed to elaborate on how and when it should be introduced.

Rep. Park Hong-keun, floor leader of the party, and another interim leader, Rep. Yun Ho-jung, said that the DPK plans to push for the passage of the bill aimed at stripping investigation authority from the prosecution before President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, of the main opposition conservative People Power Party (PPP), is sworn in on May 10.

Rep. Yun Ho-jung, right, co-chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea's emergency committee, and Rep. Park Hong-keun salute the national flag during a general meeting of the party lawmakers at the National Assembly on Seoul's Yeouido, Tuesday. Joint Press Corps

Rep. Park urged all DPK members to unite and support the passage of the measure. He criticized the prosecution in for mobilizing all of its resources in an attempt to protect its privileges, saying that the prosecution had "crossed the line." Park reaffirmed that the DPK would push for the reform.

However, opposition parties PPP and the minor Justice Party criticized the DPK for trying to push through the bill with its supermajority in the National Assembly, without enough time for discussion with other parties and to listen to expert and public opinions.

Senior prosecutors have been going all-out to protest the DPK's push for the reform bill, demanding the establishment of a special committee at the National Assembly to listen to experts and the public on the matter ― an idea rejected by the party on Monday.

According to Tuesday's media reports, Prosecutor-General Kim Oh-soo is reviewing raising the issue with President Moon and trying to persuade the president to exercise his veto against the reform bill. Earlier on Monday, Kim voiced his opposition to the reform bill, as it weakens the prosecution's investigative authority, arguing that he will have no reason to remain in his job if the proposed reform goes through.

Prosecutor-General Kim Oh-soo speaks to reporters as he arrives at the headquarters of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seoul's Seocho District, Tuesday. Yonhap

Holding a general meeting of the party's lawmakers, Tuesday, the DPK reviewed and adopted the goal of passing the reform bill.

Earlier the same day, Yun, the DPK's emergency committee chief, said during a radio interview with local broadcaster CBS that the party plans to pass the reform bill at the National Assembly within this month, so that it might be announced at President Moon's last Cabinet meeting, scheduled for May 3.

"There is such a thing as the right timing to carry out such a reform," Yun said when asked to comment on the criticism that the DPK is rushing the passage of the bill.

Yun said that the main reason for the rush is that President-elect Yoon is unlikely to initiate such reforms himself.

"If this prosecutor-turned-president takes office, such prosecutorial reform will never be carried out during the next five years. We need to complete the prosecutorial reform before President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol takes office, so as not to miss the right timing."

The headquarters of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seoul's Seocho District, Tuesday. Yonhap

The PPP leadership claimed that the DPK seemed to be more interested in meeting their political goals, to protect allegedly "corrupt" DPK members, including President Moon himself and former Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung, who competed against Yoon in the 2022 presidential election.

The main opposition party leadership said it is planning to stage a filibuster, although such a move would not be able to stop the passage of the bill. The DPK holds the majority in the 300-seat National Assembly, of 172 seats, followed by the PPP's 110 seats.

"The intention behind the DPK's attempt to hurriedly establish a new prosecution system is to bulletproof the DPK members who are embroiled in corruption allegations," PPP floor leader Rep. Kim Hyung-dong said in a Tuesday commentary.

Kim was referring to as yet unproven allegations that former Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung was involved in a highly lucrative land development project, allegations that his wife, Kim Hye-kyung, had used a government-issued corporate credit card for personal expenses, and allegations that Cheong Wa Dae had interfered in the 2018 local elections to help Moon's aide, Song Cheol-ho, in the Ulsan mayoral race.

The Justice Party said that it cannot agree with the timing of the bill, when it has only been about a year since the introduction of a new investigation system, under which the prosecution and the police have the right to investigate different cases, as well as the establishment of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIOHO), which is in charge of conducting probes into allegations involving high-ranking officials and their family members.

"It has been about a year since the new criminal justice system has been enacted, with the introduction of new investigation system for the prosecution and the police, as well as the launch of the CIOHO. There have been achievements as well as problems that should be improved. But now the DPK says we need to take away the power to investigate from the prosecution. It is doubtful that the people would agree that it is an urgent national task with reasonable grounds," Justice Party leader Yeo Young-guk said in a party meeting, Monday.