 |
| Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo talks to reporters at the National Assembly on Seoul's Yeouido, Thursday, after his meeting with Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Park Kwang-on, who chairs the Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee. Yonhap |
By Jung Da-min
Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo is making all-out efforts to stop the ruling liberal Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) push for prosecutorial reform, aimed at separating its investigative and prosecutorial powers.
"I understand the core of the bill ― aimed at abolishing the prosecution's investigative function ―to be to get rid of the prosecution itself," Kim argued to reporters at the National Assembly, Thursday, before meeting with DPK Rep. Park Kwang-on who chairs the Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee. Kim was referring to the DPK's prosecutorial reform bill.
The top prosecutor said the court and the police would be too heavily burdened if the prosecution loses its investigative rights.
Kim called for the committee members to have a thorough debate about the bill, including any possible side effects it could bring about.
Park said after the meeting, "I told Kim that we would discuss the bill according to the democratic procedures of the Constitution and the National Assembly Act. We will exercise the constitutional authority given by the people based on rational criteria and for the people."
 |
| Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Park Kwang-on, right, who chairs the Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee, holds a meeting with Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo, who visited Park's office at the National Assembly on Seoul's Yeouido, Thursday, to deliver his opinion against the party's push for a prosecutorial reform bill. Yonhap |
Currently, the prosecution and the ruling party are diverging in their opinions on the issue.
From the DPK's side, reforming the prosecution has been a major priority from the beginning of the current Moon Jae-in administration. The DPK argues that the authority of Korea's prosecution is overreaching, as it encompasses both prosecutorial and investigative powers.
Public opinion had been highly favorable to prosecutorial reform early on in the Moon administration in 2017, according to a public opinion poll conducted in July that year by local research institute Planning, Research, Consulting and Policy Analysis and local publication Law Issue, with 72.3 percent of the respondents saying that the prosecution's investigative authority should be given to the police or a third organization.
But after former Prosecutor General Yoon Suk-yeol rose to renown upon being appointed by President Moon and using the institution's authority to lead investigations into some of the Moon administration's top officials, some people started to doubt the sincerity of the ruling bloc, believing that the original idea or goal of the reform plan had been distorted and that the ruling party only wanted to tame the prosecution to protect its own political interests.
In another survey conducted in August 2020 by local pollsters Embrain Public, Kstat Research, Korea Research International and Hankook Research, 52 percent of the respondents said the original idea of prosecutorial reform had been distorted, while 32 percent said that the reform plan was going well.
The DPK decided to call a vote on the reform bill this month at the National Assembly, where it holds the majority of 172 seats in the 300-member National Assembly, so that it can be tabled at the final Cabinet meeting under President Moon Jae-in to be held May 3, before President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol is sworn in on May 10.
On Tuesday, the DPK adopted its official stance regarding the bill during a general meeting of party lawmakers.
A day later, Prosecutor General Kim said he requested a meeting with President Moon over the matter in an attempt to persuade the president to exercise his veto against the reform bill.
![[INTERVIEW] Hip-hop group Uptown returns after 13 years with new lineup](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/0eae35da5e9c40c38cf439e550a2eb3e.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] ASTRO members aim to shine in musical theater](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/df16760dc50f469d93434f66a069465c.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
