Moon promulgates prosecution reform legislation

President Moon Jae-in, left / Yonhap

President Moon Jae-in promulgated two controversial bills on prosecution reform at a final Cabinet meeting, Tuesday, before his term ends next week, paving the way for eventually stripping the prosecution of its power to investigate.

Moon's promulgation of the two bills came hours after the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) railroaded the last remaining bill on prosecution reform through the National Assembly amid opposition protests, completing its push to reduce and ultimately remove the prosecution's investigative powers.

Before deliberations on the bills at his final Cabinet meeting, Moon said, "Concerns about political neutrality, fairness and selective justice in the prosecution's investigations have still not been resolved."

"And there are evaluations that it is not enough to win public trust, which is why the National Assembly has taken a step further in separating investigations and indictment."

One of the laws is aimed at limiting the scope of the prosecution's supplementary investigations, while the other is to reduce the prosecution's investigative powers to only two types of crimes ― corruption and economic ― from the current six before removing them completely.

The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) has called for Moon to use a veto on the laws, but Moon was widely expected to promulgate them, as the laws were a result of a compromise deal between the two main parties, Cheong Wa Dae officials said.

The DPK and the PPP have been wrangling for weeks over the bills, as the DPK had insisted they were necessary to ensure the prosecution did not abuse its investigative powers for political purposes, while the PPP has countered they will leave the people with fewer means to seek justice for crimes.

The two sides reached a compromise deal, brokered by National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug, under which the prosecution's investigative powers would be reduced from six crime types to two before being removed completely, but the PPP backtracked following criticism that lawmakers were colluding to shield themselves from prosecution investigations, as the agreement calls for stripping the prosecution of its right to investigate election crimes.

The legislation will go into effect four months after its promulgation.

The DPK, which holds 171 out of 300 seats, has tried to pass the two bills and get them signed into law before the May 10 inauguration of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, because Yoon would be expected to veto the bills.

"The compromise deal was virtually the agreement between the ruling and opposition parties that came out after long discussions of their floor leaders and lawmakers," Park said following the passage of the bill. "I want to be clear that this agenda was processed from the viewpoint of the people and national interest."

After the plenary session, PPP lawmakers stood outside Cheong Wa Dae and displayed signs to demand Moon's veto of the legislation.

"Parliamentary democracy was trampled on, and procedures and principles collapsed against tricks and cheats," said Kim Hyung-dong, a spokesperson of the PPP. "We really hoped the last Cabinet meeting of President Moon would not end with the promulgation of evil prosecution reform laws."

Hours before Moon promulgated the bills, the prosecution again implored Moon to use his veto to stop the legislation from becoming law.

"We earnestly appeal to the president to exercise the right to demand reconsideration as the guardian of the rule of law and democracy, so that the revision of the criminal justice system can be carried out through in-depth discussion and deliberation and public support," the Supreme Prosecutors Office said in a press release. (Yonhap)