18 Regional Prosecutors General Nationwide to Meet on the 11th to Discuss the 'Geomsu Wanbak Act'

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[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] On the 11th, a nationwide meeting of district prosecutors will be held at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office to discuss the so-called 'Geomsu Wanbak (Complete Removal of Prosecutorial Investigation Rights)' bill being promoted by the Democratic Party of Korea.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office announced that at 10 a.m. on the 11th, a meeting will be held in the large conference room on the 15th floor of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, attended by Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo, Deputy Prosecutor General Park Seong-jin (High Prosecutors' Office Chief), Planning and Coordination Department Head Ye Se-min (Chief Prosecutor), and the chiefs of 18 district prosecutors' offices nationwide.

Initially, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office planned to hold a press and non-face-to-face meeting with the nationwide prosecutors, but on this day, the direction was changed to have the district prosecutors gather in person for the meeting.

Earlier, on the 8th, the high prosecutors' office chiefs gathered at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and held discussions for about three hours, after which they expressed opposition to the bill promoting the complete abolition of prosecutorial investigative functions.

The high prosecutors' office chiefs reached a consensus expressing serious concern that the bill, which brings fundamental changes to the criminal justice system, is being hastily pushed forward at a political level without sufficient public consensus and adequate opinion gathering.

The high prosecutors' office chiefs opposed the Geomsu Wanbak bill, stating, "To prevent the grievances and human rights violations of the people, it is a minimum safeguard to make judgments based on what is directly seen and heard, and it must be maintained under any circumstances." Among the high prosecutors' office chiefs attending the meeting, pro-government figures such as Lee Seong-yoon, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, also opposed the bill to abolish prosecutorial investigative rights.

After Speaker of the National Assembly Park Byeong-seok transferred Yang Hyang-ja, an independent lawmaker formerly of the Democratic Party, to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 7th, the possibility of the bill abolishing prosecutorial investigative rights being brought to the plenary session increased.

In response, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office issued an official statement opposing the political push to completely abolish prosecutorial investigative functions. Prosecutor General Kim said, "I deeply empathize with the problem awareness and earnest feelings of the prosecution members and take the current situation very seriously."

After the Supreme Prosecutors' Office officially expressed opposition, the Democratic Party sharply criticized, saying, "It is seriously concerning if the prosecution mistakenly believes it can reign over the National Assembly," and added, "They act as if a disaster will occur if investigative rights are separated, but the essence is a threat not to touch their privileges and vested interests."

The Democratic Party plans to hold a policy meeting on the 12th to decide the party's stance on the passage of the Geomsu Wanbak bill.

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