Growing Caution Within Democratic Party: "How Can We Keep Police in Check?"

[Anchor]

The Democratic Party has stated its intention to accelerate the processing of the bill, but voices of concern are emerging from within the party itself. The argument is that if the prosecution's authority for supplementary investigations is completely abolished, there will be no way to keep police investigations in check, and gaps will emerge in the protection of victims.

Park Jae-yeon reports.

[Reporter]

There are three versions of the Criminal Procedure Act amendment currently pending before the Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly: a bill proposed by the Democratic Party, a joint proposal by Democratic Party Representative Kim Yong-min and Rebuilding Korea Party Representative Park Eun-jung, and a bill proposed by Rebuilding Korea Party Representative Cha Gyu-geun.

While there are some differences regarding whether prosecutors can force police to comply with "requests" for supplementary investigations, all three bills share the core goals of separating investigation from indictment and completely abolishing the prosecution's authority for supplementary investigations.

However, voices of concern are growing within the Democratic Party.

The concern is that if the police intentionally downplay or cover up a case, it would be practically impossible for prosecutors, who would no longer have the authority to conduct direct investigations, to detect such issues by merely reviewing police investigation records.

[Hong Ki-won / Democratic Party Representative (KBS Radio 'Jeongyeok Sisa'): If an investigation is conducted in a way that favors the perpetrator, wouldn't it become much more difficult to correct that if we cannot conduct supplementary investigations directly?]

A member of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee from the Democratic Party pointed out in a phone call with SBS, "Under the current amendment, if local police act systematically—such as by slowing down investigations or neglecting duties due to collusive relationships—there is no proper way to keep them in check."

Concerns are also being raised that crime victims who are "socially vulnerable," such as the disabled, women, and children, may face situations where their rights are not properly guaranteed.

[Kim Nam-hee / Democratic Party Representative: I believe we must engage in discussions to ensure that this reform does not lead to harm for the public. We must ensure that the rights of the most vulnerable are not infringed upon....]

However, it remains unclear how much influence these calls for "cautious review" will have, as they are being overshadowed by the hardline atmosphere within the Democratic Party that emphasizes the complete abolition of the prosecution's supplementary investigation authority and the swift passage of the bill.

(Video reporting: Shin Dong-hwan | Video editing: Yoo Mi-ra | Design: Lee Jong-jung, Hwang Se-yeon)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.