"Prosecutors' Office Act by the 26th" Democratic Party's Final Ultimatum

Lee Nak-yeon and Judiciary Committee Joint Meeting... Pressure for Legislative Amendment Measures

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, discussed measures to address the delay in the launch of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency (Gongu-cheo) with Democratic Party members of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee. He sent a final ultimatum to the People Power Party, which has been postponing the appointment of the opposition's candidate recommendation committee members for Gongu-cheo, demanding a decision by the 26th. He expressed his intention to pass the amendment bill solely with the ruling party if the ultimatum is not met.

Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the joint meeting of the Judiciary Committee held at the National Assembly on the 8th and delivering an opening remark. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

On the morning of the 8th, Lee held a joint meeting with the judiciary committee members at the National Assembly, stating, "We held this meeting because the implementation of the Gongu-cheo Act has been delayed," and added, "An abnormal situation where the fate of the law is controlled by those unwilling to uphold it has continued for nearly three months." He further said, "The passage of the Gongu-cheo Act is not our choice but an unavoidable responsibility for us," and "How we should handle this situation is the task before us."

Yoon Ho-jung, chairman of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, expressed regret at the meeting, saying, "It is very regrettable that the Gongu-cheo Act has not been implemented for 100 days due to a specific party, and the agency has not been launched after the enactment." He pressured, "If the opposition does not recommend the candidate recommendation committee members by the 26th, the Democratic Party will have no choice but to initiate legislative measures to amend the Gongu-cheo Act through the judiciary committee."

Yoon added, "The opposition attacks as if the law is being amended to suppress the opposition and to create a Gongu-cheo that the government and ruling party can manipulate at will, but that is not true," and emphasized, "Gongu-cheo is an anti-corruption agency aimed at eradicating corruption among public officials, especially power-related corruption."

After the meeting, lawmaker Baek Hye-ryun told reporters, "If the recommendation committee members are not appointed by the end of the national audit, we will proceed according to schedule. Lee's determination is clear," and added, "We will continue dialogue with the opposition in the meantime."

The Democratic Party leadership pressured the People Power Party the day before to appoint the opposition's recommendation committee members before the end of the national audit. Floor leader Kim Tae-nyeon said on the 7th, "If the opposition continues its dereliction of duty, the Democratic Party will inevitably move to amend the law," and stressed, "If the opposition's recommendation is not made even after the audit ends, the legislative process will begin immediately."

The Democratic Party's amendment bill includes provisions allowing the formation of the Gongu-cheo chief candidate recommendation committee without the opposition's recommendation committee members. It changes the current composition method, where the ruling and opposition parties each recommend two members out of the total seven Gongu-cheo chief candidate recommendation committee members, to a system where four members are recommended regardless of party affiliation. The Democratic Party plans to merge the amendment bills proposed by lawmakers Kim Yong-min, Baek Hye-ryun, and Park Beom-gye into a single alternative. The judiciary committee currently has 11 ruling party members, and if the opposition does not make recommendations by the deadline of the 26th, the Democratic Party can pass the bill unilaterally.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.