Choiganguk proposes bill on 'resignation from prosecution 1 year before election' targeting Yoon Seok-yeol

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] Choi Kang-wook, a member of the Open Democratic Party, has proposed a bill that prohibits prosecutors and judges from running for public office candidates for one year after retirement. According to the bill, Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol must resign by March next year to run in the next presidential election.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 12th, Representative Choi, along with Kim Jin-ae and Kang Min-jung of the Open Democratic Party, held a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office and announced the proposal of partial amendments to the Prosecutors' Office Act and the Court Organization Act containing these provisions.

Regarding the purpose of the bill, Representative Choi explained, “The current Public Official Election Act requires candidates for public office to resign from their positions at least 90 days before running. Prosecutors and judges can also run as public office candidates after only 90 days of retirement,” adding, “There are concerns that investigations and prosecutions by incumbent prosecutors and trials by incumbent judges may be influenced by political motives, which could deepen public distrust in the judiciary.”

He continued, “Due to the blatant political activities of the Prosecutor General and some prosecutors currently taking place, the damage of national division and disruption of state affairs is falling on the people,” and stated, “To cut off prosecutorial politics and restore judicial trust, we intend to use this as an opportunity to enhance the fairness and neutrality of investigations and judicial procedures by restricting prosecutors and judges who aspire to be politicians from running for office for one year after retirement.”

After the press conference, Representative Choi responded to reporters’ questions about “how he views Prosecutor General Yoon’s presidential support rate” by saying, “It is not normal for a current public official to be mentioned as a presidential candidate and repeatedly engage in political activities without denying it.”

Representative Kim also said, “This bill was proposed due to various wrongful behaviors of the judiciary and prosecution,” criticizing, “The cartel between political prosecutors and conservative media bears great responsibility for practically causing the problem.” She emphasized, “Along with prosecutorial reform, media reform is also absolutely necessary.”

When asked whether they had reached a consensus with the leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea regarding the bill’s passage, they replied, “Not really. We will proceed with those who share the intention internally. There is no particular reason to oppose it.”

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