DPK Holds 'Public Report' Event, but Internal Clashes Erupt Over 'Roh Moo-hyun Politics'

[Anchor]

The Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), which pushed through the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act, claims that the judicial system has been transformed to be more people-centered. Today, the party even held a public reporting session to actively promote the changes, but a heated debate erupted within the party over some remarks mentioning former President Roh Moo-hyun.

Reporter Park Jae-yeon has the details.

[Reporter]

The DPK held a public reporting session this afternoon under the title of a "fairer criminal justice system."

Coming just three days after the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act passed the National Assembly, the party explained its follow-up measures, emphasizing that institutional devices to strengthen victims' rights have also been established.

[Han Byung-do, DPK Floor Leader: We will prepare the organization, personnel, and budget without a hitch, and closely inspect case transfers and inter-agency cooperation systems.]

The party's stance is that controls over the investigation process have also been strengthened to prevent the police from "burying cases."

[Seo Young-kyo, DPK Lawmaker: In cases such as search and seizures, body cameras 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 voices of concern continued from some parts of the academic and legal communities, but a debate regarding former President Roh Moo-hyun also broke out within the DPK.

Former President Moon Jae-in posted on social media regarding the criminal procedure amendment, writing, "Prosecutorial reform is a long-standing reform task that took its first step under the Roh Moo-hyun administration." After former leader Chung Cheong-rae, lawmaker Kim Yong-min, and others similarly linked the amendment to the late former President Roh, lawmaker Kwak Sang-un, who is Roh's son-in-law, publicly came forward to refute it.

Lawmaker Kwak, who was the only DPK member to cast a dissenting vote on the amendment during the National Assembly plenary session, directly mentioned former President Moon and former leader Chung by name, hitting back by saying, "Former President Roh never pushed to completely strip the prosecution of its investigative powers so that the police would hold a monopoly on investigative authority," and adding, "Do not distort 'Roh Moo-hyun politics'."

Lawmaker Kim Nam-hee, a pro-Lee Jae-myung faction member, also chimed in without specifying a target for criticism, saying, "What former President Roh showed us was not putting extreme arguments first." Internal disagreements within the DPK persist even after the passage of the criminal procedure amendment in the National Assembly.

(Photo courtesy of Yonhap News / Video reporting: Oh Young-chun, Kim Yong-woo | Video editing: Wee Won-yang | Design: Han Heung-soo, Lee Jun-ho)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.