"Minimize Confusion, Clarify Direction" Democratic Party's 1st Prosecutorial Reform Special Committee Meeting

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] The Special Committee on Prosecutorial Reform of the Democratic Party of Korea held its first meeting on the 29th to discuss the future direction and goals. The Democratic Party expanded and reorganized the existing Power Institution Task Force (TF) into the Special Committee on Prosecutorial Reform the day before. The chairperson is currently Yoon Ho-jung, a member of the National Assembly and chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

At the meeting, Representative Lee Nak-yeon stated, "While minimizing confusion, I hope the special committee's activities will have a clear direction." He added, "The law adjusting investigative authority between the police and prosecution, which was hard-won, will be implemented in the new year. Based on that, we need to systematically summarize additional tasks." He continued, "Among them, I hope we can do what can be done quickly without getting tired and continue steadily."

Oh Ki-hyung, a Democratic Party member appointed as the spokesperson for the special committee, said in a briefing after the meeting, "We shared the recognition that prosecutorial reform should proceed under the theme of people's livelihood, protecting human rights in various criminal procedures and resolving inconveniences in daily life."

Oh said, "We reached a consensus on three issues," citing ▲guaranteeing citizens' fundamental rights in criminal justice procedures ▲institutional review of the criminal justice system ▲democratic control of prosecutorial investigations.

They also announced plans to promote the separation of investigation and prosecution powers. Oh stated, "There was talk about creating a roadmap for institutional reform. We will further discuss and refine the roadmap for separating investigative and prosecutorial powers and prepare a bill accordingly."

He added, "Starting from the new year, we decided to identify the realities arising from the adjustment process of investigative authority between the police and prosecution and to supplement the system institutionally."

Later, in a meeting with reporters, he said, "There is already a broad consensus on the separation of investigation and prosecution." He added, "Please understand the amendment to the Prosecutors' Office Act proposed by Representative Kim Yong-min and others as one opinion. Various ideas will emerge within the special committee."

He continued, "It is important to procedurally guarantee the predictability of the exercise of criminal justice power and ways for citizens to respond. We also need to consider the functional efficiency of investigating and prosecuting crimes," he added.

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