Yun Ho-jung: "Yoon Seok-yeol Created an Inevitable Situation for Reform Himself... Rather Grateful"

Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol is answering questions from reporters after paying respects at the National Seoul Memorial Cemetery in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, on the 2nd. Photo by Kang Jin-hyeong aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] Yoon Ho-jung, chairman of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee and member of the Democratic Party of Korea, expressed gratitude to Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol.

On the 15th, appearing on the YouTube show "Kim Eo-jun's Das Bo-ida," Rep. Yoon said, "In a way, I am thankful to Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol," adding, "He created a situation where prosecutorial reform became inevitable and provided the logical basis for the second phase of prosecutorial reform."

This is interpreted to mean that as the prosecution did not accelerate organizational restructuring despite the amended laws, Prosecutor General Yoon provided an opportunity for prosecutorial reform led by the Democratic Party.

Rep. Yoon stated, "There was an opinion to separate investigation and prosecution powers in the next administration, but that idea has now completely disappeared. The strongest proposal currently being discussed is to revert the Prosecutors' Office Act to the law first enacted in 1949," adding, "It is the strongest measure and currently the majority opinion."

Regarding the prosecution's lack of organizational restructuring even after the law was amended, he said, "Although the scope of investigations that the prosecution can directly conduct has been limited to six cases due to the adjustment of investigative authority between the police and prosecution, the prosecution has not prepared at all for this."

He continued, "Not only do they not readily accept the adjustment of investigative authority between the police and prosecution, but there is also a reasonable suspicion that they believe they will regain their powers at any time," adding, "We believe that if things continue like this, the reforms made during the 20th National Assembly could collapse like a sandcastle and be wiped out."

Yoon Ho-jung, Member of the Democratic Party of Korea Photo by Yonhap News

Rep. Yoon emphasized, "The Democratic Party's determination is at 'max level' (the highest)," and said, "We will complete legislation related to prosecutorial reform within February and process these bills by the first half of the year at the latest."

Regarding the opposition party's criticism of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's proceedings as 'dictatorship,' he retorted, "We are operating according to parliamentary principles, but the opposition insists it looks like dictatorship."

He also added about the strong backlash during last year's prosecutorial reform legislative process, "A 'vested interests coalition' was formed, and they completely surrounded and attacked us."

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