DP Holds 'Public Briefing' on Criminal Procedure Act, But Internal Clashes Erupt Over 'Roh Moo-hyun Politics'

[Anchor]

The Democratic Party, which pushed through the amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act, claims the system has shifted into a people-centered judiciary. It held a public briefing today, Monday, August 3, actively promoting the move, but internal friction and heated debates broke out within the party over remarks mentioning former President Roh Moo-hyun.

Reporter Park Jae-yeon has the details.

[Reporter]

The Democratic Party held a public briefing this afternoon titled "A Fairer Criminal Justice System."

Coming just three days after the criminal procedure amendments passed the National Assembly, the party explained follow-up measures, emphasizing that institutional mechanisms to strengthen victims' rights have been established.

[Han Byung-do, Democratic Party Floor Leader: We will seamlessly prepare the organization, personnel, and budget, and closely inspect case transfers and inter-agency cooperation systems.]

The party maintains that it has also tightened controls over investigation procedures to prevent police from "burying cases."

[Seo Young-kyo, Democratic Party Lawmaker: In cases such as searches and seizures, body cams will be worn, and video recordings will be made so that not a single place, case, or piece of evidence is missed.]

The party launched a public opinion campaign as concerns continued to pour in from some circles in academia and the legal profession. However, a debate concerning the late former President Roh Moo-hyun erupted within the Democratic Party itself.

Former President Moon Jae-in posted on social media regarding the latest criminal procedure amendments, writing, "Prosecutorial reform is a long-standing reform task that took its first step under the Roh Moo-hyun administration." Following this, former party leader Chung Chung-rae, lawmaker Kim Yong-min, and others linked the amendments to the late former President Roh. In response, Representative Kwak Sang-un, who is the son-in-law of former President Roh, publicly pushed back.

Representative Kwak, who was the sole lawmaker from the Democratic Party to cast a dissenting vote on the amendments during the National Assembly plenary vote, directly named former President Moon and former leader Chung, stating, "Former President Roh never pursued completely stripping the prosecution of its investigative powers to grant the police a monopoly on investigations." He fired back by saying, "Do not distort 'Roh Moo-hyun politics'."

Lawmaker Kim Nam-hee, a pro-Lee Jae-myung faction member, without specifying a target for criticism, also chimed in, saying, "What former President Roh showed us was not putting extreme claims first." Divergent views within the Democratic Party continue to persist even after the passage of the criminal procedure amendments.

(Photo courtesy of Yonhap News)
(Reported by Oh Young-chun and Kim Yong-woo | Video edited by Wee Won-yang | Designed by Han Heung-soo and Lee Jun-ho)