Do Je-hae edits news stories as part of the AI team.
Parties wrangle over Moon's push for investigative unit
Main opposition Liberty Party of Korea (LKP) Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn, right, listens as LKP floor leader Na Kyung-won speaks during a party meeting at the National Assembly, Thursday. Yonhap
By Do Je-hae
By Do Je-hae
After the departure of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, the National Assembly is engulfed in a row over some of the details of the prosecutorial reforms that await legislative proceedings.
One of the biggest points of contention is the establishment of a unit to investigate high-ranking officials.
The rival parties have locked horns over President Moon Jae-in's push to create an independent investigative unit to handle corruption cases involving high-level officials and their family members, one of the core proposals of Moon's reform measures. The parties met at the National Assembly, Wednesday, to discuss the bill for the establishment of the unit, but clashed about its purpose and function.
Cheong Wa Dae plans to stick with its plans for the unit, regardless of the rising criticism that it could result in excessive presidential power, and has instead highlighted that it is the people's wish to see it established to properly handle corruption cases involving powerful officials. “It should be noted that most of the people agree with the necessity for the unit,” presidential spokeswoman Ko Min-jung said during a briefing Wednesday.
The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) has highlighted concerns regarding the independence of the unit, given that President Moon has the authority to appoint people to its key posts, including its chief, according to the proposal by the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). The ruling party is aiming to pass the bill during a plenary session later this month; but the LKP has vowed not to cooperate with such a move.
The LKP claimed that the reason the ruling party is "fixated" on creating the unit was to influence the prosecution's investigation into figures close to the President. "If the unit is created based on the ruling party's proposal, then all the corruption and irregularities of the current administration will be buried eternally,” LKP floor leader Rep. Na Kyung-won said during a party meeting Thursday.
In a rare move, President Moon met the vice minister and director-general in charge of prosecution affairs at the Ministry of Justice in Cheong Wa Dae, Wednesday, and ordered “stern” measures for self-reform by the end of the month. The presidential office explained that the meeting was to ensure that reforms were carried out meticulously despite the vacancy at the ministry's top post.
The President's repeated meetings with officials from the justice ministry represent the importance he places on reforming the prosecution, the presidential office said.
But LKP Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn, a former prosecutor, slammed the meeting as a “threat to the prosecution.” “Moon will use it to extend his liberal rule,” Hwang said during the Thursday pasrt meeting.