[Anchor]
The Democratic Party of Korea (DP) maintains its stance to fully push through the abolition of the prosecution's supplementary investigation rights. Meanwhile, the People Power Party (PPP) is criticizing the move, proposing a bill to retain these rights as its official party platform.
Reporter Park Chan-beom has the story.
[Reporter]
With members of the People Power Party absent, lawmakers from the Democratic Party and other pan-ruling bloc parties held a subcommittee meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee yesterday (July 13). They are accelerating the review of the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act, which centers on abolishing supplementary investigation rights, stating they plan to hold two to three meetings this week alone.
However, seemingly conscious of concerns regarding the abolition, they are also reviewing additional supplementary measures such as the digitization of investigation files and a real-name investigation system.
[Kim Seung-won / Executive Secretary of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee (Democratic Party): We are reviewing the entire criminal justice system to ensure it is the most efficient and fair for those involved in cases...]
Amidst this, Democratic Party lawmaker Hong Ki-won has decided to propose a bill that would allow for exceptions to the supplementary investigation rights in cases such as sex crimes or voice phishing. In a letter sent to fellow lawmakers, he emphasized that a total ban on supplementary investigations would inevitably lead to delays in case processing, which would only increase the suffering of victims.
---
The People Power Party has countered the Democratic Party's attempt to amend the law by announcing it will propose an amendment to retain supplementary investigation rights as its official party platform.
[Let's protect the supplementary investigation rights! Let's protect them! Let's protect them!]
The party also decided to adopt a plan to delay the implementation of the Act on the Establishment of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency and the Public Prosecution Service Act, which are set to take effect in October of this year, by one year.
[Jung Jeom-sik / Floor Leader of the People Power Party: If the prosecution had been dismantled and supplementary investigation rights had been abolished in 1987, the official cause of death for Park Jong-cheol would have been recorded as a heart attack of unknown origin...]
To prevent the recurrence of incidents like the Jang Yoon-ki case, the People Power Party plans to include a provision in its amendment that would require prosecutors and police officers to consult from the early stages of investigations for major crimes.
However, there are divided opinions within the party regarding the revival of the system where all cases are transferred to the prosecution, as there is concern it could give the impression that the party is opposed to prosecution reform.
(Reported by Park Chan-beom | Video by Lee Seung-hwan and Shin Dong-hwan | Video Editing by Jang Hyun-ki)
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.