Lee Jun-seok's 'Reconsideration of Complete Prosecution Reform', Lee Su-jin: "A Dark Intention to Stall Time"

"People Power Party lacks will to pass bill"
"Democratic Party urges urgent extraordinary measures and legislative push"

Lee Su-jin, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker. / Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Joo-hee] Lee Su-jin, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, for stating that he would reconsider the so-called 'complete removal of prosecution's investigative authority (Geomsu Wanbak)' mediation plan, saying, "The People Power Party has no intention of passing the bill. Extraordinary measures by the Democratic Party are necessary."

On the 24th, Lee posted on Facebook, "The true intentions behind the People Power Party's sudden acceptance of the Speaker of the National Assembly Park Byeong-seok's mediation plan for separating investigation and prosecution are gradually being revealed. Park Byeong-seok's mediation plan is not even a proper mediation plan, and in the end, it may only waste the critical time needed for the normalization of the prosecution," he said.

Regarding Lee Jun-seok's statement about reconsidering the Geomsu Wanbak negotiation plan, Lee said, "As expected, the People Power Party had no intention of accepting the prosecution reform to separate investigation and prosecution for the normalization of the prosecution," and criticized, "They are insisting on holding public hearings and even want to address this issue during the confirmation hearing of Han Dong-hoon, the nominee for Minister of Justice."

He continued, "It has often happened that the party leader vetoes agreements made by the floor leaders, returning the agreed matters to square one. The purpose is to buy time," explaining, "Because as long as they can block the bill discussion within next week, that is sufficient."

Lee speculated, "The People Power Party's sudden acceptance of the mediation plan was a conclusion reached through meticulous strategic calculation," adding, "Primarily, they aimed to somehow block the Democratic Party's party-line passage within the Moon Jae-in administration's term, and later judged that they could sufficiently obstruct it after the Yoon Suk-yeol administration began."

He added, "There will be no smooth progress in the subsequent legislative process following the mediation plan. The People Power Party will never be cooperative during this process," and said, "President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol has continuously mentioned strengthening prosecutorial power. He will not easily accept any prosecution reform bill, including the complete separation of investigation and prosecution."

Lee also questioned Speaker Park, saying, "I cannot help but ask if you truly believed that the People Power Party would accept the legislation for separating investigation and prosecution," emphasizing, "Judging from the statements of the People Power Party leadership over the weekend, the sincerity of accepting the mediation plan cannot be trusted. We cannot trust the promises of the People Power Party, whose dark intentions are so apparent."

Earlier, the ruling and opposition parties agreed on the 22nd to accept Speaker Park's proposed 'Geomsu Wanbak' mediation plan and announced that they would hold a plenary session on the 28th or 29th of this month to pass the bill. However, on the 24th, Lee Jun-seok publicly expressed opposition and hinted at reconsidering the negotiation plan.

In a Facebook post, Lee said, "Although the Geomsu Wanbak discussion passed at our party's caucus meeting, pushing forward with legislation under such serious contradictions is unreasonable," and stated, "I respect Floor Leader Kwon Seong-dong for his efforts in unavoidable negotiations, but at tomorrow's (25th) Supreme Council meeting, we will reconsider this negotiation plan."

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