Opposition bloc opposes reform of investigative bodies

By Kim Rahn

President Moon Jae-in’s plan to reform investigative bodies may face a bumpy road as the opposition parties are against the move, which requires relevant law revisions at the National Assembly.

The opposition claim Cheong Wa Dae’s announcement of its own plan ignored the Assembly, which just finished forming a special committee last week to discuss reform of the prosecution and police.

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) said Monday it would not accept the Cheong Wa Dae plan, which is aimed at rearranging the investigative power of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), the prosecution and police.

“It is unilateral state management ignoring the National Assembly, which is a representative body,” LKP floor leader Rep. Kim Sung-tae said, threatening to boycott the committee.

Rep. Chang Je-won, the LKP leader on the committee, said, “Cheong Wa Dae presented the reform measure immediately after the committee was launched. This is a dictatorial and arrogant stance to cripple the committee.”

The LKP especially opposed the idea of transferring the NIS responsibility for investigating domestic espionage cases to the police, saying the spy agency could not function if it could not catch spies.

“The committee will not deal with the NIS reform measure at all,” Chang said.

Regarding the plan to have police take over some investigative roles from the prosecution, he said, “Cheong Wa Dae exposed its intention to make the police slaves to power by giving them the incentive of a bigger investigative role.”

The LKP also reaffirmed its opposition to establishing a separate investigative body for corruption cases involving presidential aides, high-ranking government officials and their families.

The minor opposition Bareun Party also opposed the transfer of NIS espionage investigation rights to the police.

“About the past wrongdoing in which the agency was used as a pawn of those in power, the government is not getting to the core of the problem, but is abolishing the anti-espionage function unreasonably,” said Bareun Chairman Yoo Seong-min.

Yoo added that transferring an organization’s investigative power to another organization was not enough to reform it.

“Whether it’s the police, the prosecution or the NIS, the key of the reform should be eradicating the problem that former presidents controlled them through their authority over personnel affairs at the organizations,” Yoo said.

“But the Cheong Wa Dae plan does not have anything about reforming personnel affairs.”

The minor opposition People’s Party also pointed out that it was inappropriate for Cheong Wa Dae to lead the judicial reform when all political parties had agreed to discuss the issue at committee level.