Rival Parties Clash Over President Lee's Remark That He 'Has Not Read' Criminal Procedure Act

<앵커>

Rival political parties engaged in a fierce war of words over President Lee Jae-myung's remark that he has not read the revised Criminal Procedure Act. The People Power Party criticized it as an attempt to evade responsibility out of fear of becoming a sinner in history, while the Democratic Party countered that the opposition is distorting the president's true intentions.

Reporter Son Hyeong-an has the details.

<기자>

The remark was made by President Lee Jae-myung the day before yesterday (the 5th) during a review of the nation's crime-response capabilities following the revision of the Criminal Procedure Act.

[President Lee Jae-myung : The revised Criminal Procedure Act—since I haven't read it myself—does the revised Criminal Procedure Act state that prosecutors must not conduct investigations?]

The People Power Party launched a concentrated offensive yesterday, led by party leader Jang Dong-hyeok.

The opposition party blasted the remark as an "unprecedented absurd comment," pointing out that during the Cabinet meeting on the 4th when the revision was approved, the president had backed the measure as a "course of justice," only to claim now that he had not even read the legal provisions.

[Jang Dong-hyeok / Leader, People Power Party : Out of fear of remaining as a sinner in history, he is evading responsibility by claiming he passed it without properly reading the legal provisions. Frankly, I am curious about the current mindset of President Lee Jae-myung.]

The Democratic Party immediately fired back in defense.

The ruling party stated that "the intention behind the president's remark regarding the Criminal Procedure Act is clear," explaining that "it was a question posed to ensure the Cabinet shares a clear stance and enforcement policy on remaining questions and to make a final confirmation."

The party hit back, stating, "Leader Jang's remarks—talking about 'absurd comments' and out of nowhere summoning the president's mindset—are themselves an unprecedented insult to the president."

The rival parties also clashed over President Lee's remarks emphasizing the push for an integrated military academy, where he suggested that graduates of the Korea Military Academy could potentially stage another coup in the future.

The Democratic Party supported the stance, arguing that the creation of an integrated military academy is an irresistible trend of the times.

[Han Byung-do / Floor Leader, Democratic Party : As the president noted, we cannot overlook the fact that there have been as many as three coups carried out by the military, centered around the Korea Military Academy, during our brief modern history.]

Meanwhile, the People Power Party fired back with criticisms such as, "A destructive and reckless populist mindset—seeking to abolish whatever they dislike—is now targeting the Korea Military Academy following the prosecution," and "Following that logic, should we also abolish the high school and university that former President Yoon Suk Yeol attended?"

(Photo: Yonhap News)
(Reported by Lee Seung-hwan and Shin Dong-hwan | Video Editing by Lee Seung-hee | Design by Han Heung-soo)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.