Prosecutors, Investigators, and 3,000 General Staff Appeal to National Assembly Speaker... "Please Make a Decision for the People"

On the 27th, National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seok presented a partial amendment to the Prosecutors' Office Act, which includes the 'Geomsu Wanbak' (separation of prosecution investigation and indictment rights), at the plenary session of the National Assembly. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] Approximately 3,000 members of the prosecution, including prosecutors and investigators, have sent an appeal letter to National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seok, urging him to block the passage of the 'Complete Removal of Prosecutorial Investigation Rights' (검수완박) bill, which the Democratic Party is pushing through.

According to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on the 29th, on the previous morning, Kwon Sang-dae, Director of Policy Planning at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office (age 46, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 32, Chief Prosecutor), sent the appeal letter received from about 3,000 prosecution members to Speaker Park via public email.

It is reported that the appeal letter was voluntarily signed by many prosecution members nationwide, including frontline prosecutors, investigators, and administrative staff.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office stated, "The appeal letter contains a plea for the National Assembly Speaker, as the last bastion of the Constitution and constitutional spirit of the Republic of Korea, to fully gather opinions from all sectors of society and civil society and make decisions for the people."

Earlier, on the 18th, Director Kwon posted a message titled "Request to Draft an Appeal Letter to the President and the National Assembly Speaker" on the internal prosecution network, iProS.

In the post, Director Kwon said, "Despite the sincere appeals from prosecution members and sensible citizens, it seems the Democratic Party will not stop its legislative unilateralism," adding, "We plan to draft and deliver an appeal letter to the last gatekeepers, the President and the National Assembly Speaker."

He continued, "This may be a futile attempt that only burdens prosecution members, but I hope many prosecution members will participate without giving up until the end."

At the end of the post, Director Kwon attached 'Appeal Letter to the President' and 'Appeal Letter to the National Assembly Speaker,' stating, "I have attached sample formats, but there is absolutely no need to be bound by these formats."

He added, "I would appreciate it if the planning prosecutors or administrative chiefs of each office could collect the appeal letters from their respective offices and send them to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Policy Planning Division by this Wednesday."

The amendments to the Prosecutors' Office Act and the Criminal Procedure Act, which the Democratic Party aims to pass before President-elect Yoon Seok-youl's inauguration, include reducing the scope of direct investigations by prosecutors from the existing six major crimes to two categories: corruption and economic crimes, and prohibiting prosecutors who conduct investigations from indicting.

In particular, the Prosecutors' Office Act amendment, which was submitted to the plenary session after the Democratic Party's final revisions, includes provisions that significantly reduce the scope of supplementary investigations by prosecutors and eliminate the complainant's right to object, intensifying controversy.

Regarding these 검수완박 bills, not only the prosecution but also the legal community, academia, and civic groups have expressed concerns, pointing out the unconstitutionality of the content itself and procedural issues; however, the Democratic Party plans to push forward with the National Assembly vote on the Prosecutors' Office Act amendment starting on the 30th and the Criminal Procedure Act amendment on the 3rd of next month.

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