ED Do not delay reform

Law enforcement agencies require drastic change

President Moon Jae-in has adamantly pushed for reform of law enforcement agencies since he took office in May 2017. This reform is part of his campaign promises to fight rampant corruption and eliminate bad practices in officialdom to create a clean and fair society.

However, Moon's reform agenda has made little progress due to persistent resistance from the agencies, especially the prosecution. Partisan struggles between the ruling and opposition parties have also contributed to delaying reform.

This is why Moon held a meeting with the heads of the National Police Agency, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) at the presidential office Friday. He reiterated the importance of reforming the agencies during the meeting.

As Moon said, reforming law enforcement institutions is a task for our time. He stressed that the reform is aimed at setting straight the values of a democratic nation by better protecting public safety and human rights. We could hardly agree more. The President should not miss this rare opportunity to change the agencies drastically so that they can serve the people and the nation better.

Yet concerns are growing that this reform drive may backfire if the National Assembly fails to turn his reform package into legislation in the first half of the year. There is not enough time for the Assembly to deal with the package later because a general election is scheduled for April next year.

What's more worrisome is that lawmakers, from both the governing and opposition parties, are not much interested in translating Moon's words into action. Instead, they are more engrossed in protecting their vested interests and the status quo. So they are unwilling to run the risk of bringing big changes to the law enforcement bodies.

Considering the political context, Moon's reform is likely to end up in an anticlimax unless the President goes the extra mile to keep his much-avowed campaign promise. First of all, Moon should exercise his leadership to persuade the rival parties to work together to make his reform a success.

The Moon government and the governing Democratic Party of Korea should do more to reach a national consensus that the reform of the law enforcement agencies can no longer be delayed, to ensure justice for all, not for a few privileged elite.

Last year, the government drew up a plan to give greater investigative authority to police, while curtailing the prosecution's power. The state prosecution has long come under criticism for abusing its investigative and prosecutorial powers to serve as a handmaiden for political power.

The prosecution and the state spy agency, the NIS, have been found to have violated their political neutrality and independence to curry favor with the incompetent and corrupt government of Moon's conservative predecessors ― Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak.

The country cannot firmly establish the rule of law without reforming law enforcement agencies. Judiciary reform is also imperative to solidify the criminal justice system and restore democratic checks and balances.