[Exclusive] Ministry of Justice Pushes for 'Mandatory National Assembly Appearance of Prosecutor General'

After Minister Park's Inauguration, Plan Established to Mandate Prosecutor General's Appearance in National Assembly... Prosecution Says "Will Produce Political Prosecutors"

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The Ministry of Justice plans to enforce the mandatory appearance of the Prosecutor General before the National Assembly within this year. The Prosecutor General has never appeared before the National Assembly for Q&A sessions due to concerns that such appearances could undermine the neutrality of prosecution investigations. Although the plan aims to establish a "prosecutor system for the people through checks and balances," strong opposition within the prosecution is also expected.

According to the legal community on the 22nd, the Ministry of Justice recently prepared a performance management implementation plan that includes a review of the "mandatory appearance of the Prosecutor General before the National Assembly within this year" as a measure to enhance public trust in the prosecution, and reported it to the National Assembly and others. The reason for establishing this policy is the need to organize such a system to ensure a fair and transparent prosecution that meets the public's expectations in order to restore public trust in the prosecution.

The issue of the Prosecutor General's appearance before the National Assembly was first raised in political circles. It was briefly included as part of power institution reforms in President Moon Jae-in's election manifesto. Former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk also stated, "I believe that control by the elected power, the National Assembly, is absolutely necessary," and added, "Since the issue of the Prosecutor General's appearance before the National Assembly is linked to the Minister of Justice's appearance, we will look into it."

However, concerns have persisted that if the Prosecutor General directly attends plenary or standing committee meetings of the National Assembly and answers detailed questions from lawmakers, political neutrality could be compromised. In particular, responses by the Prosecutor General regarding individual cases could be perceived as political stances, potentially influencing investigations.

There has also been considerable opposition. The argument is that the Prosecutor General cannot be exempted from responding when the National Assembly, representing the people, requests answers. In practice, since the Minister of Justice attends the National Assembly and answers related questions on behalf of the Prosecutor General, it is no longer possible to maintain this as a mere convention. This is also the background behind the Ministry of Justice's official move to discuss the mandatory appearance of the Prosecutor General after Minister Park Beom-gye took office.

There have been cases where the Prosecutor General appeared before the National Assembly. In March 2018, then-Prosecutor General Moon Moo-il appeared before the National Assembly's Special Committee on Judicial Reform. However, this was limited to a session where the prosecution presented its stance on institutional reforms such as the adjustment of investigative authority between the police and prosecution. Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl also had an opportunity to appear before the National Assembly. During the job suspension incident last year, with support from lawmakers of the People Power Party, Yoon planned to appear before the National Assembly to explain the background and facts of the suspension decision and his position on the issue, but it was canceled due to opposition from ruling party members of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.

Concerns within the prosecution about the Ministry of Justice's policy are high. It is interpreted as an attempt to interfere with investigation directions by summoning the Prosecutor General to the National Assembly after claiming to avoid political prosecutors. A prosecution official criticized, "Requests from the National Assembly or committees are limited to the Prime Minister, Cabinet members, and government officials, none of which apply to the Prosecutor General," adding, "This policy contradicts the continuous emphasis on human rights investigations such as the prohibition of disclosing suspect facts, and the neutrality of prosecution investigations will rapidly collapse."

However, the Ministry of Justice plans to conduct the main discussions on the mandatory appearance of the Prosecutor General in the second half of the year. This is interpreted as considering the political controversies and opposition within the prosecution that could arise if the policy is pushed hastily amid the Prosecutor General vacancy situation.

A lawyer who was formerly a judge commented, "Although a bill mandating the Prosecutor General's appearance before the National Assembly has been proposed, it is a complex issue that requires comprehensive review of the National Assembly Act, the Prosecutors' Office Act, and others. Moreover, political controversies may continue regardless of regime changes, so it will be difficult to push this forward easily."

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