Geum Tae-seop: "Cho Kuk never budges when the prosecution is on his side... Is weakening power because he doesn't listen reform?"

Independent preliminary candidate Geum Tae-seop, who is running for the Seoul mayoral by-election, is preparing ahead of the second unification debate with Ahn Cheol-soo, the preliminary candidate of the People's Party, held at KNK Digital Tower in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of the 25th. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] Geum Tae-seop, an independent preliminary candidate running for the Seoul mayoral by-election, criticized the prosecution-investigation authority separation bill promoted by the Democratic Party of Korea on the 26th as "legislation filled with personal interests."

On the same day, Geum posted on his Facebook, stating, "The separation of investigation and prosecution authority is a global standard," but added, "The bills currently promoted by the Democratic Party outwardly claim to separate investigation and prosecution authority, but in reality, their intentions and effects are completely different."

As evidence, Geum pointed out that the number of investigative agencies is actually increasing, and that while the prosecution's frequent command authority over the police is almost eliminated, the prosecution's investigation authority is also being stripped away. He continued, "If the prosecution is prevented from conducting direct investigations, then control over the police must be strengthened instead. Abuse of authority by the police is a much bigger problem for ordinary citizens than abuse by the prosecution."

Geum explained, "The direction was not originally to separate investigation and prosecution. The original policy of the Moon Jae-in administration was to maintain the prosecution's special investigation units," adding, "They expanded the prosecution's special investigation units more than any previous administration, both qualitatively and quantitatively. I vividly remember shouting and fighting with former Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Cho Kuk over this issue. They did not budge at all because they considered the prosecution to be on their side."

He continued, "Then suddenly, after the Cho Kuk incident, everything changed 180 degrees. Does this make any sense? What kind of reform is this?" and criticized, "It's just that since the prosecution didn't listen, they took away their power and gave it elsewhere."

He also criticized, "It is shameful that there are lawmakers with legal backgrounds who shout about reform while proposing such bills."

Meanwhile, according to the legal community on the 26th, the Democratic Party of Korea is pushing for the enactment of a bill to establish the Serious Crime Investigation Agency (Investigation Agency) for the complete separation of prosecution investigation and prosecution authority.

The bill includes transferring the investigation authority for six major crimes currently handled by the prosecution to the Investigation Agency, and limiting the prosecution to maintaining public prosecution only.

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