Justice minister nominee expresses concern about bipartisan deal on prosecution reform

Justice minister nominee Han Dong-hoon speaks to reporters at the Seoul High Prosecutors Office in this April 15, 2022, photo. Korea Times file

Justice minister nominee Han Dong-hoon expressed concern Saturday about bipartisan bills aimed at reducing and eventually scrapping the prosecution's investigative powers.

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) agreed Friday to pass compromise legislation proposed by National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug within this month.

"Even the current system brought by the 2020 revision exposed many side effects and loopholes in protecting the common people and tackling corruption," Han said in a statement.

He was referring to the latest law amendments that limited the prosecution's investigation to six types of crime, including corruption and economic offenses.

"If the additional legislation is hastily enacted without a close analysis and social consensus, the problems will worsen severely," he said.

Han, a high-level prosecutor and one of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's closest confidants, was nominated to head the justice ministry April 13.

Last week, Han slammed the DPK's move to weaken the prosecution, saying it would hamper the fight against crime and end up hurting ordinary people.

After the two parties reached an agreement Friday, Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo, his deputy and the chiefs of all six high prosecutors' offices across the nation offered to resign in protest.

Under the compromise deal, the prosecution will temporarily keep its investigative right, with the number of types of crime that it can investigate reduced to two ― corruption and economic crimes.

The deal calls for scrapping the prosecution's investigative power after the capabilities of other investigative authorities are improved and the creation of a special judiciary reform committee to discuss the establishment of a major crimes investigative unit like the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. (Yonhap)