Ruling party introduces key prosecution reform bill at plenary session, triggering filibuster from main opposition

The National Assembly holds a plenary session, Thursday. Yonhap

The ruling Democratic Party Korea (DPK) on Thursday introduced a prosecution reform bill aimed at separating investigative and indictment powers at a parliamentary plenary session, prompting the main opposition party to launch a filibuster.

In what would be a major overhaul of the prosecution service, the bills are follow-up measures to a government reorganization law that will abolish the existing prosecution service structure in October and outline the framework for launching new investigative and indictment agencies in the same month.

During the plenary session, the main opposition People Power Party launched a filibuster in protest, after the DPK brought the bill to establish an indictment agency to the floor.

Under the bill, the indictment agency will only handle indictments, while a separate body, the so-called serious crimes investigation agency, will have powers to open investigations into crimes involving corruption and economic offenses, among others.

No change was made to the title of the agency's chief, which will remain "prosecutor general."

The government has pushed for the prosecution service to separate its exclusive authority of both indictment and investigation, amid criticism that such power is excessive.

The DPK, which holds a majority in the Assembly, plans to unilaterally push through the bill when the filibuster's 24-hour deadline ends Friday.

It is also expected to push for a parliamentary investigation into allegations of what it described as fabricated indictments under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, covering the 2015 Daejang-dong development project in Seongnam when President Lee Jae Myung was the city's mayor, as well as an illegal remittance case to North Korea in 2019.

A filibuster involves lawmakers holding the floor for extended periods as a way to prevent a parliamentary vote or delay the passage of a bill. Under the National Assembly Act, a filibuster can be stopped after 24 hours if at least three-fifths of all parliament members, or 180 lawmakers, consent to it.