KOR
▲ The amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act, submitted the previous day, is displayed on the electronic board after being passed with 175 votes in favor, 2 against, and 1 abstention out of 178 members present at the 3rd plenary session of the July extraordinary session of the National Assembly held on the 31st. Representative Kwak Sang-un cast the sole dissenting vote against the amendment pushed as the Democratic Party's official party line, while Representative Lee So-young abstained. Representative Lee Ju-young of the Reform Party also voted against the bill.
Representative Kwak Sang-un of the Democratic Party, the son-in-law of the late former President Roh Moo-hyun, cast a dissenting vote on the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act aimed at abolishing prosecutors' direct investigative powers.
The amendment passed the plenary session of the National Assembly on the 31st with 175 votes in favor, 2 against, and 1 abstention out of 178 members present.
While People Power Party lawmakers boycotted the vote, only Representative Kwak and Representative Lee Ju-young of the Reform Party cast dissenting votes.
Representative Lee So-young of the Democratic Party abstained.
Immediately after the plenary session, Representative Kwak posted on Facebook, saying, "I could not make any other choice when the impending suffering of the public is visible to my eyes and the tears of the public are audible to my ears."
This was an explanation of why he voted against the bill despite it being designated as the party line.
On the 24th, the Democratic Party adopted as its party line the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act, whose core provision is to ban prosecutors from conducting direct investigations, including supplementary investigation powers.
Previously, Representative Kwak and Representative Lee co-sponsored an alternative amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act with Representative Hong Ki-won, which would partially retain prosecutors' supplementary investigation powers for crimes targeting vulnerable groups.
During a debate held with Representative Hong on the 23rd, Representative Kwak also addressed Acting Party Leader and Floor Leader Han Byung-do, who had set a policy to completely abolish prosecutors' investigative powers, stating, "(Regarding the reasons for pushing the bill) President Roh Moo-hyun was mentioned, but making a system is not about settling personal grudges."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.
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