OECD Statement Supports Korean Government's Efforts to Minimize Issues with Geomsu Wanbak

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which consists of advanced countries around the world, has issued a statement supporting the South Korean government's efforts to minimize the problems of the 'Geomsu Wanbak (complete removal of prosecutorial investigation rights)' bill.

According to the Ministry of Justice on the 21st, the OECD's Working Group on Bribery (WGB) released a statement the day before saying, "We welcome the efforts of the Republic of Korea government, including filing a constitutional lawsuit, to minimize the negative impacts that may arise from the recent legal amendments," and added, "We plan to recommend legal amendments to preserve South Korea's investigation and prosecution capabilities regarding international bribery crimes and to ensure that investigations and prosecutions of international bribery crimes are not influenced by political matters." They also expressed hope for "progress at the regular meeting to be held in October."

Earlier, in April when the controversy over the 'Geomsu Wanbak' bill was at its peak, Drago Kos, chair of the OECD WGB, sent a letter to the Ministry of Justice expressing concern over the legislative moves to amend the Prosecutors' Office Act and the Criminal Procedure Act in South Korea, stating, "A compromise must never weaken Korea's anti-corruption and overseas bribery investigation and prosecution capabilities."

In response, the Ministry of Justice explained the specific contents of the Geomsu Wanbak bill and related policies, including the government's efforts to combat corruption crimes, at the '2022 2nd Quarter OECD WGB Regular Meeting' held from the 14th to 17th of last month at the OECD headquarters in Paris, France.

It is reported that the OECD WGB chairpersons and member countries, after hearing this, agreed on concerns that the sudden legal amendment would reduce the total capacity of the Korean prosecution's corruption investigations and resolved to issue a statement. Subsequently, on the 27th of last month, the Ministry of Justice also filed a constitutional dispute adjudication regarding the Geomsu Wanbak bill with the Constitutional Court.

The Ministry of Justice stated, "We will continue to dispel international concerns about the weakening of South Korea's anti-corruption response and strive to equip the Republic of Korea with anti-corruption crime response capabilities that meet global standards."

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