Following the passage of an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act stripping prosecutors of their investigative powers last month in August, led by the pan-ruling coalition, a subcommittee under the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee convened to review follow-up legislation.
In this closed-door meeting, heated arguments broke out among pan-ruling coalition lawmakers over how to handle an amendment to the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes.
Representative Kim Nam-hee of the Democratic Party, viewed as a moderate on prosecution reform, repeatedly requested the floor right up until the vote. However, a hardline pan-ruling coalition lawmaker attempted to push through the vote, saying, "Let's just vote." Pan-ruling lawmakers reportedly hurled sharp remarks at Representative Kim, such as "Is this meeting a joke?" and "Post it on social media."
The dispute was triggered by the amendment's provisions concerning prosecutors.
Under current law, when a prosecutor interviews a sexual violence victim under the age of 19, the statements and interview must be video-recorded, and the recording is recognized as admissible evidence in court.
Hardline lawmakers in the pan-ruling coalition introduced an amendment that would strip such video recordings of their admissibility as evidence and attempted to put it to a vote.
Under Article 245 of the amended Criminal Procedure Act, prosecutors may interview individuals related to a case or obtain materials to verify facts, but those materials cannot be used as evidence at trial. The pan-ruling hardliners argued that the sexual violence punishment act should be revised accordingly.
Moderate lawmaker Kim Nam-hee voiced her opposition, stating, "If we do not recognize even video recordings of interviews between prosecutors and sexual violence victims under the age of 19 as admissible evidence, the victims are being mocked twice."
Hardline lawmaker Representative Kim Yong-min countered by stressing the overarching principle of separating investigation and prosecution, arguing, "If we grant admissibility as evidence, we would have to return investigative personnel to the prosecution." Representative Park Eun-jeong of the Rebuilding Korea Party also reportedly pushed back, saying, "Carving out a special exception could be controversial."
In the end, the meeting was disrupted and lawmakers agreed to hold further discussions, in a sign of surfacing internal divisions within the pan-ruling coalition over follow-up measures to prosecution reform.
(Reported by Ha Jeongyeon | Video Camera by Lee Seung-hwan | Video Editing by Lee Seung-jin | Graphics by Kang Yoon-jung | Produced by SBS Digital News)
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