Kwon Seong-dong: "As a Minority Party Floor Leader, I Agree to the Mediation Plan to Minimize Public Harm"

Lee Jun-seok "Legislative Push for Complete Prosecution Reform is Excessive"

Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party, is speaking about the agreement on the 'complete prosecution reform' compromise at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 25th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, has put a brake on the mediation plan for 'Geomsu Wanbak' (complete removal of prosecutorial investigative authority) that Speaker Park Byeong-seok and the ruling and opposition floor leaders barely agreed on. On the 25th, Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party, said, "As a floor leader of a minority party, I chose to agree to the mediation plan to minimize the damage to the people."

In an interview with YTN Radio's 'News King Park Ji-hoon' on the same day, Floor Leader Kwon said, "The Democratic Party, leveraging their 180 seats, declared that they would forcibly pass the Geomsu Wanbak law in April, using any means necessary. Laws such as the Corruption Investigation Office Act, the adjustment of investigative authority between the police and prosecution, and the three lease laws also harm the people, but the Democratic Party passed all of them in the past," he said. He added, "My hope is that the people will understand."

Regarding the Geomsu Wanbak bill, he said, "During negotiations with me, the Democratic Party repeatedly said that if their mediation plan was not accepted, they would proceed as they wished."

He continued, "Since the agreement was reached through party caucuses of both ruling and opposition parties, if there is a reversal on this matter, the Democratic Party's backlash is obvious," adding, "The Democratic Party tried to remove even the supplementary investigative authority of the prosecution but failed to remove some of the supplementary and direct investigative authorities. Our party supporters are protesting, but Democratic Party supporters are also protesting."

Regarding Lee's statement at the Supreme Council meeting that he would reconsider the Geomsu Wanbak negotiation plan, he said, "Since this is a discussion of various concerns and worries within the party at the party leader level, we will explain well at the Supreme Council about the future impact on the political situation."

Earlier, on the 24th, Lee posted on his Facebook, "Over the weekend, I gathered detailed opinions from various legal experts and frontline investigators, including Han Dong-hoon, the nominee for Minister of Justice, regarding the discussions on the Prosecutors' Office Act and Criminal Procedure Act, commonly called Geomsu Wanbak," and stated, "The concerns of frontline investigators are considered valid."

He added, "As party leader, I have always respected the discussions of the floor leadership, and although the so-called Geomsu Wanbak discussion passed in our party's caucus, given the serious contradictions, further legislative promotion is unreasonable," emphasizing, "This is not a matter to be rushed within a week."

Meanwhile, Floor Leader Kwon said on the same day that the ruling and opposition parties need to reconsider the part of the Geomsu Wanbak mediation plan that removes the prosecution's investigative authority over election and public official crimes.

At the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly main building, he said, "There were concerns and criticisms from the public regarding the exclusion of the prosecution's direct investigative authority over public official crimes and election crimes."

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