Lee Seok-yeon: "Abolishing Supplementary Investigation Rights Is Unconstitutional"... Calls for Revision Even Within Ruling Bloc

[Anchor]

As allegations of police misconduct continue to mount, opposition to the complete abolition of the prosecution's supplementary investigation rights is growing. Lee Seok-yeon, Chairman of the National Unity Committee, has publicly stated that "the complete abolition of supplementary investigation rights is unconstitutional." Dissenting voices are also emerging daily within the Democratic Party.

Reporter Kang Cheongwan has the story.

[Reporter]

Lee Seok-yeon, a moderate conservative who served as Minister of Government Legislation during the Lee Myung-bak administration, has been leading the presidential National Unity Committee since September of last year.

On Sunday, July 12, he wrote on social media, "The current Constitution stipulates that the right to request warrants—such as for arrests, detentions, and searches and seizures, which are core investigative powers—is the exclusive authority of prosecutors," adding, "Completely stripping prosecutors of their investigative powers is potentially unconstitutional."

He argued that the complete abolition of supplementary investigation rights is a matter that requires constitutional amendment, not just a revision of the law.

Chairman Lee emphasized that the prosecution's supplementary investigation rights must be recognized not only for victim protection and the discovery of substantive truth but also to uphold the spirit of the Constitution, stating that a public political party should not be swayed by the concerns of its support base or partisan interests.

Meanwhile, concerns are mounting within the Democratic Party, which is pushing for the abolition.

Representative Ko Min-jung, a pro-Moon Jae-in faction member running for party leadership, proposed maintaining supplementary investigation rights specifically for cases involving sexual violence or crimes against vulnerable social groups.

[Interview] Ko Min-jung / Democratic Party Lawmaker: I believe that the separation of investigation and prosecution is a policy choice intended to ensure no victims are treated unfairly, and it should not become an article of faith for us.

Representative Lee So-young, a lawyer by profession, also pointed out that if the prosecution, lacking supplementary investigation rights, is forced to rush indictments due to time constraints, there is a risk that criminals could be released, and that the Democratic Party has failed to provide an answer to this problem.

On the other hand, Representative Kim Yong-min, who proposed the bill for complete abolition, argued, "This is a similar trend to four years ago when we abolished the prosecution's direct investigation rights," adding, "The aftermath of leaving two out of the six major crimes at that time, due to pressure from pro-prosecution experts and others, is the current state of chaos."

Amidst this, during the platform presentations by Democratic Party leadership candidates today, Kim Min-seok, a former lawmaker, stated that "abolition is the principle," while former party representative Jung Chung-rae insisted that "complete abolition is the correct answer," both maintaining their existing positions.

Reported by Seol Chi-hwan, Jung Sang-bo, and Yang Hyun-cheol | Video by Kim Jun-hee | Graphics by Park Cheon-woong
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.