Yoon's Side on Ruling and Opposition's Agreement on Complete Criminal Code Reform: "Closely Monitoring Public Concerns"

Baek Hyunjin "The President-elect Will Fulfill Presidential Responsibilities After Inauguration"

Baek Hyun-jin, spokesperson for President-elect, is giving a daily briefing on the morning of the 24th at the joint press conference room of the transition committee in Tongui-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The office of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol stated regarding the ruling and opposition parties' agreement on the mediation plan for 검수완박 (complete removal of the prosecution's investigative authority), "We are carefully listening to and observing the series of processes along with the public's concerns."

On the 24th, Bae Hyun-jin, spokesperson for the President-elect, responded this way to a question about the stance on 검수완박 during a briefing held at the Presidential Transition Committee office in Tongui-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

Spokesperson Bae emphasized, "(The President-elect's) inauguration is not far off, and after taking office, he will fulfill his responsibilities and efforts as president to uphold constitutional values."

Earlier, the Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party agreed to process the mediation plan on 검수완박 proposed by National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seok as a bipartisan agreement.

The mediation plan presented by Speaker Park includes reducing the scope of direct investigations by the prosecution and stipulates that if the establishment of the Serious Crime Investigation Agency (Jungsucheong) is completed within one year and six months after the launch of the National Assembly's Judicial Reform Special Committee, the prosecution's direct investigative authority will be completely removed.

Following the agreement, opposition within the prosecution has grown, with Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo, Deputy Prosecutor General, and frontline high prosecutors collectively resigning. While President-elect Yoon opposed 검수완박 during his tenure as Prosecutor General, calling it "corruption rampant" (부패완판), he has refrained from direct remarks since his election.

When asked again about 검수완박 on the day, Spokesperson Bae said, "We are in a position where we cannot be involved in every detail of the National Assembly's affairs" and was reserved in his comments.

The Democratic Party plans to pass the law during this month's extraordinary session of the National Assembly and promulgate it at the last Cabinet meeting of the Moon Jae-in administration on the 3rd of next month. This is because if it is not completed during the current administration, there is a high possibility that President-elect Yoon will exercise his veto power on the bill after taking office.

Han Dong-hoon, the Ministry of Justice nominee and a close aide to President-elect Yoon, released an official statement the day after the ruling and opposition parties agreed on the mediation plan for 검수완박, stating, "Even in the system currently implemented following the 2020 legal amendment, many side effects and loopholes have been revealed in protecting ordinary citizens and responding to corruption. Without thorough analysis and social consensus, hasty additional legislation could seriously worsen these problems."

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