Democratic Party, "Form the Special Committee on Criminal Law Reform Without Delay... Hold the Steering Committee Today and Submit to the Plenary Session"

April 29, 2 PM, National Assembly Steering Committee Convened
People Power Party, "Clear Violation of National Assembly Act" Protest

[Asia Economy Reporters Oh Ju-yeon, Park Joon-ee, Kwon Hyun-ji] The Democratic Party of Korea has begun the process of forming the 'Special Committee on Judicial Reform,' a follow-up procedure to the 'Complete Removal of Prosecutorial Investigation Rights (Geomsu Wanbak).' Despite opposition from the People Power Party, the Democratic Party plans to convene the National Assembly Steering Committee on the afternoon of the 29th to handle the formation of the Special Committee on Judicial Reform and intends to submit the agenda to the plenary session as well.

Yoon Ho-jung, Co-Chair of the Emergency Response Committee of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the Emergency Response Committee meeting held at the National Assembly on the 29th and is talking with Park Hong-geun, Floor Leader, before the meeting starts. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

Yoon Ho-jung, the Democratic Party's Emergency Response Committee Chairman, said at the morning emergency meeting, "We will no longer delay the formation of the Special Committee on Judicial Reform," adding, "We will hold the Steering Committee today to approve the formation plan and proceed with the procedure to submit it to the plenary session."

The Special Committee on Judicial Reform will discuss the establishment of the Serious Crime Investigation Agency (Jungsucheong, tentative name Korean-style FBI), a new investigative body set up to replace the prosecutorial investigation rights that are being removed. The mediation plan by National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seok, agreed upon by both ruling and opposition parties on the 22nd, included provisions for 'completion of legislation within six months of establishing the Special Committee on Judicial Reform and launching Jungsucheong within one year after legislation completion.' However, the Prosecutors' Office Act and Criminal Procedure Act amendments submitted to the plenary session on the 27th omitted these provisions, leading to renewed power struggles between the ruling and opposition parties over Geomsu Wanbak.

Oh Young-hwan, the Democratic Party floor spokesperson, told reporters in the morning, "The Steering Committee is confirmed for 2 p.m.," and explained, "If the resolution is adopted and approved at the Steering Committee, it can be submitted to the plenary session, and then the Speaker will put it on the agenda, where it will go through the approval process in the plenary session as well."

However, the People Power Party strongly opposed the forced convening of the Steering Committee, calling it a "clear violation of the National Assembly Act." In the morning, Song Eon-seok, the People Power Party floor deputy leader, said at the floor strategy meeting, "The Democratic Party should immediately stop the unilateral convening of the Steering Committee." He emphasized, "Although the Special Committee on Judicial Reform was included in the mediation plan, it was Park Hong-geun, the Democratic Party floor leader, who broke the agreement. Since the agreed mediation plan was broken, it is null and void."

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